It's only been a couple of months since I finally started my own Instagram page, full of funny maths memes and some other maths scribbles, tricks, and so on.

I very much appreciate the enormous interest in my Insta page, and I'm very grateful for every single follower I have there. It shows me that so many of you find maths interesting or funny or just like to interact with maths in your free time – that's absolutely fabulous!

On the other hand, the huge interest in my Instagram activities started bringing way too many peculiar messages. And I just can't keep answering every single time one lands in my inbox.

So, I've decided to give you a brief guide on the most common questions and my likely answers to them. If you've got to this page through a link I sent you in a message, please read through, as your answer is somewhere here =)

This saves me time so I can do more maths stuff, as I'm a busy bee – and I'm sure you all appreciate it more than if I were buried under a ton of messages, answering repeatedly to every single one.

Let's get to the list then:

1. "Hi" (nothing more) Well, hi to you back =)
   
   
2. [throws some random maths question] I'm not WolframAlpha to spit out a calculation as you wish. Starting with "Hi, may I please ask you..." is more likely to get you an answer from me.
   
   
3. "Hi, may I ask you a question?" Sure, just ask; you don't need my permission. However, bear in mind that there are types of questions that have a universal answer – see some common examples below.
   
   
4. "Hi, can you help me with [throws some random maths question]" Most likely I can, but most likely I won't do it for free (apparently, that's what a lot of people on Instagram expect). Please send me an email with your maths enquiries so we can discuss further how I can help you.
   
   
5. "What's your name?" (This used to be a bit of a struggle before I rebranded.) You should know my name by now if you've read this article from the beginning. Also, a good hint is the email address that I have out there as my preferred way of communication about maths inquiries. And my actual brand name, after I've changed it.
   
   
6. "Where are you from?" This is quite irrelevant. What matters possibly more is what curriculum I'm used to teaching. It's the English and Scottish national curricula I teach most of the time, as I live in the UK.
   
   
7. "Can you post this meme?" [sends random meme] If I like it and it's maths-related or at least education-related, I may post it. I don't post all memes, even if I may like them, if I don't feel that they would be a good fit for my page.
   
   
8. [asks a silly question] Think again about whether you really need to know my age, my relationship status, what I had for dinner, and if I ever cry. If you really need to know, then I'm sorry, but you'll have to live without the answer.
   
   
9. "Can we be friends?" I'm default-friendly with everyone. However, I don't see a reason to become friends with a random person on the internet whom I don't know at all. Do you?
   
   
10. [keeps throwing random questions and messages unrelated to maths, education, or anything relevant that makes sense] I'm sorry, try to read this guide again.
    
    

So, this is what I need to deal with from time to time, and I just can't keep up. As I said, I'm very grateful for every single one of you who appreciates what I do, and I do like to interact with all of you – but please, let's keep it relevant, professional, and reasonable =)