Instagram Rolls Out New Update Including Notes, Group Profiles Amongst Other Features

With the aim to help people share and connect more with those they care about, Instagram today, has introduced new features.

Of particular interest among these new features is the “Notes” feature which users can use to share their thoughts using just text and emojis. This feature has been likened to Twitter’s own style as some form of competition. However, there is a distinct variation. Instagram Notes are only visible to your mutuals or people on your Close Friends list as stated by Instagram.

To leave a Note, you go to the top of your inbox, select your mutuals (followers you follow back) or users on your Close Friends list. Your note will then appear at the top of their inbox for a period of 24 hours. Any replies to your Notes arrive as DMs in your inbox. Instagram said during testing it found that people liked having a lightweight, easy way to share what is on their mind and start conversations and Notes give people a casual and spontaneous way to express themselves and connect with each other. Perhaps this could explain why this feature is limited to only 60 characters using emojis and text. This means that Instagram Notes are really just short posts as a means to share your thoughts and start conversations with your mutuals and Close Friends.

Furthermore, Instagram has stated that they are “testing new features in Stories to help people more easily share in spontaneous, fun ways to help create even stronger connections with friends.” These new features are the “Pass it on” feature and “Candid Stories”.

The “Pass it on” feature is being tested to be added to “Add Yours” in stories. With this “you can invite friends to participate by tapping ‘pass it on’ when you see a prompt that reminds you of them.”

With this Instagram is truly focusing on connecting people together in more ways than before.

Candid Stories is being tested to allow friends to share their moments in a story that is only visible to those who also share their own. You can capture a candid from the stories camera or the multi-author story at the top of the feed. You can also capture a candid from the daily notification reminder that starts after your first candid and this reminder can be turned off at any time in Settings.

Instagram is also working towards creating a new group experience. With Group Profiles, users will be able to create and join this new type of profile to share posts and stories in a dedicated, shared profile with friends. As a group member, whenever you share contents to a group profile, your post will be shared with your fellow group members instead of your followers, and it will be posted on the group profile instead of yours. To create a new group profile, all you will have to do is tap “+” and select Group Profiles.

To further brush up this new experience, you will also be able to create collaborative collections. This is being tested for users to be able to share interests with their friends by saving posts to collaborative collections in their groups or 1:1 DMs. Users can start or add to a collaborative collection by saving posts directly from feed or by sharing a post to a friend via DM and saving it from there.

With these features being tested, Instagram surely is doing their best to promote connectivity between people and their families and friends outside from the general public. With this you can have your own niche and still be part of the bigger social media society. Instagram stated that “whether it’s catching up with friends or exploring shared interests, connecting with others is why people come to Instagram. Today, we’re introducing several updates to help you feel closer to the people you care about.” and they are definitely doing their best to live up to it.