At its Instagram University event in New York, Instagram recently revealed new features designed for younger users. These updates have been tested for some time, but with the official announcement, they should be available in the app soon.
The primary purpose of these new features is to appeal to the 16-25 age bracket, to keep their attention, and to prevent them from switching to platforms such as TikTok. Here’s a simple breakdown:
- Birthday Celebrations
- Notes Inbox Update
- Close-Friend Groups for Stories
- Music Enhancements
- Other Upcoming Features
Users may now celebrate their birthdays in different ways on the platform. This includes profile effects and reminders to friends. This birthday function was discovered earlier this year by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi. It allows users to choose who among their contacts receives notification of their special day.
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The Notes inbox group chat feature, which has become quite popular among young users, will be upgraded. Instagram intends to include audio clips and selfie videos to increase interaction with this feature. The first round of testing began in August.
The addition of the close-friend groups option was a highlight of the announcement. Instagram’s CEO, Adam Mosseri, stated that this is being tested. Instead of making stories public, this feature allows people to share them with specific groups.
Crews are also in the works for a more private story-sharing opportunity, and a quiz-like game for IG live streams is also in the works. There’s also talk of new musical aspects added to the platform to promote creativity. However, the details of this feature are yet unknown.
These additions aren’t groundbreaking; they do provide users with new options to engage and communicate within their networks, ensuring Instagram remains a prominent medium for networking.
