Instagram Introduces New Sharing Features That Include 'Notes' And 'Group Profiles'

Social media platforms are meant to make users social. But socializing in the digital world can be complex.

This is why Instagram, the Meta-owned social media giant, has introduced a few new features designed to make it easier for users to keep up with their real-world friends. But the most significant change is the addition of 'Notes'. This feature allows users to update their friends using just text and emoji.

What this feature does, it adding a different format for social updates beyond the images and videos Instagram is best known for.

This feature is making Instagram a bit more like a Twitter competitor. But regardless, it's a much different user interface.

Using Instagram Notes, users can leave notes by going to the top of their inbox, then selecting the followers they have followed back, or others from their existing 'Close Friends' list who they want to read the note.

Then, they can type out the note itself using 60 characters of just text or emoji. The note will appear at the top of friends’ inboxes for 24 hours and any reply recipients made will arrive as DMs.

According to Meta in an announcement:

During tests, the company learned that people liked having a lightweight, easy way to share what’s on their mind and start conversations. From asking for recommendations to sharing what they’re up to, Notes allows users to have a casual and spontaneous way to express themselves and connect with each other.

According to reports, Meta liked the way Notes is being used, that it even considered turning Instagram Notes into its its own standalone app or another feed inside Instagram.

Other new features Instagram is adding, focus on Stories.

For example, Instagram introduces a way for users to "easily share in spontaneous, fun ways to help create even stronger connections with friends."

One of the updates, is to the 'Add Yours' feature, which encourages others to participate in users' trend by sharing their own variation.

In the update, Instagram is testing an update where users can specifically invite friends to participate by tapping 'pass it on' when they see a trend that they think they’d like.

Instagram is also introducing 'Candid', which is a way for friends to share Stories that are only visible to others who also share their own Candids.

This feature is an obvious competitor to BeReal, which locks friends’ content behind a blurred screen until they also post.

And also like BeReal, Candid sends out daily notification reminders.

According to Instagram, users can capture a Candid from the Stories camera, the multi-author Story at the top of the feed, or from the daily notification reminder.

Two other features focus on improvements to group sharing.

Here, Instagram introduces 'Group Profiles' so users can create and join this new type of profiles to share posts and stories in a dedicated, shared profile with their friends. Then, there is the 'Collaborative Collections'. which allows users to connect with their friends over their shared interest.

This is more or less Instagram's answer to how young users use Instagram to post content to groups for their school, for example.

Before, these accounts would be managed by only select people with the account login. With Group Profiles, Instagram could expect greater participation.