Innovative Ways to Share Music, Photos, and Videos
Instagram recently unveiled several new features for Stories, enhancing the interactive experience for users. Among these additions, one standout feature called Reveal captures attention by blurring the contents of a story post. Viewers can only access the post by sending a direct message to the person who shared it. Instagram’s head, Adam Mosseri, emphasized the significance of direct messages, noting that stories and DMs drive most of the platform’s growth. Requiring a DM to view content represents the next step in boosting engagement, likely to be embraced by creators seeking to elevate their stories’ interactions.
Frames Feature: A Nostalgic Twist
Polaroid-Inspired Overlay Adds Charm to Images
Another intriguing addition is the Frames feature, which overlays a Polaroid frame onto images initially displayed in grayscale. Users can shake their phone to reveal the photo, reminiscent of the action associated with physical Polaroid pictures. However, it’s worth noting that shaking Polaroids is not recommended by the company due to the film development process. Despite this, the Frames feature adds a playful touch to storytelling, originally introduced during Coachella in April.
Add Yours Music: Elevating Storytelling with Songs
Interactive Music Templates Enhance Story Sharing
Instagram is also rolling out a music-based template feature called Add Yours Music, allowing users to share songs to their stories using various prompts. These prompts include asking about a favorite song from a specific album or posing hypothetical questions like “if you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life.” This feature builds upon Instagram’s existing stories prompt template for photos, offering users new avenues for creative expression.
Prioritizing Original Content
Changes Aim to Elevate User-Generated Content
Instagram has been implementing changes to prioritize original content from users. A significant update in this regard occurred earlier this week, with the company announcing that reposted or aggregated content would be essentially invisible in recommendations. Instead, the platform emphasizes original versions of posts. However, recommended content from accounts users don’t follow is receiving increased focus, which may raise concerns among creators striving to reach wider audiences.