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Tag: instagram

  • Instagram could pay you to use its Reels app

    Instagram could pay you to use its Reels app

    Last fall, Instagram announced the launch of its short-form video platform called Reels—TikTok’s unofficial rival. The app allows you to easily record and edit 15-second multi-clip videos with audio, special effects, and plenty of creative tools. By allowing public accounts to share “reels” to the wider Instagram community through a new Explore space, Instagram has seen some significant growth in its diversity and creativity lately.

    Now, it seems Reels is about to go all out in an effort to catch up with (or beat out) TikTok, as it is about to implement a new strategy for expanding its user base.

    Alessandro Paluzzi, an avid Android and iOS developer, was digging around in some back-end code when he stumbled upon a never-before-seen announcement screen. This screen reveals that Instagram is planning to begin offering monetary bonuses to Reels users to get more people excited about the platform.

    In order to participate in the mysterious bonus program, Instagram users will reportedly be asked to share their favorite Reels and spread the word. They’d most likely have to hit certain milestones before they can cash their earnings, but any further criteria have been undisclosed as of yet.

    Instagram’s cash payout game plan is by no means a novel strategy in the social media app business, and Reels is far from the first to implement it. Late last year, Snapchat began offering $1M per day in rewards for the most entertaining clips shared on the platform. And they were quite successful.

    Then just this month, YouTube announced its “Shorts Fund,” a prize pool of $100M distributed to YouTube Shorts creators over the course of 2021-2022.

    Instagram has kept mum about Paluzzi’s discovery so far, but they’ll be sure to announce their plan for the secretive “bonus program” when they are closer to the launch date and ready to let the world know.

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  • Instagram gains new captions sticker for Stories in latest update

    Instagram gains new captions sticker for Stories in latest update

    Instagram users will be happy to know that the captions feature has been expanded to Stories. Previously only available in IGTV and the Threads app, captions have now been added to Stories and Reels to provide users with a better experience.

    You may not always be somewhere where you want your sound on, yet you still want to see what your friends and creators are posting. With captions, people can now express themselves in a more effortless yet still meaningful way, and their audience can watch and still engage.

    A new captions sticker is now rolling out to Instagram users on both Android and iOS users. The captions sticker automatically transcribes speech in videos, but it’s only available in “English and English-speaking countries” for the time being. However, the plan is to make captions available to other languages and countries, Instagram confirmed, although the social network didn’t offer an ETA.

    The text displayed in Stories can be customized by adjusting various aspects, such as the style and color. Users can even edit words if they find any spelling or punctuation mistakes. Unfortunately, the size of the captions can’t be adjusted at this time, but you switch to a different background sticker to make the text easier to see.

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  • You’ll soon be able to save Instagram Stories as drafts

    You’ll soon be able to save Instagram Stories as drafts

    Post drafts have been part of Instagram for years, but the useful feature has never made its way to the app’s popular Stories section. Soon that will change, as Instagram itself announced on rival platform Twitter.

    Instead of being forced to choose between posting Stories immediately or saving them to your device for later, an upcoming Instagram update will add the option for all users to save Stories drafts inside the app.

    That means you’ll be able to take your photo or video, add the stickers and filters of your choice, and save the Story for later. When you come back to it, you’ll be able to post it straight away or make some more edits. Of course, scrapping the draft is always an option.

    Instagram hasn’t shown off the draft UI, but it didn’t have to. Mobile developer and leaker Alessandro Paluzzi uncovered the unreleased Stories draft feature and posted a screenshot on Twitter.

    The feature’s interface is, unsurprisingly, quite simple. Before exiting Stories, users will be given the option of discarding the post they’re working on or saving it inside the app as a draft.

    If you have some drafts saved, you’ll need to swipe up to open up the new drafts area. As with regular posts, it sits above the camera roll timeline.

  • An “Instagram for Kids” is in the making

    An “Instagram for Kids” is in the making

    Facebook, Instagram’s parent company, have taken it upon themselves to begin development for a children’s version of the app.  It is widely known the regular Instagram app is hardly an ideal environment for young children. The minimum age to create an account is 13 years old, but kids are shrewd when it comes to figuring out how to sidestep this restriction, exposing themselves to possible dangers.

    Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, spoke out about the difficulty of verifying users’ age, as “most people don’t get identification documents until they are in their mid-to-late teens.” Mosseri will be overseeing the development of the new app dedicated to providing a kid-friendly Instagram experience, which is still in its infancy stage, along with Pavni Diwanji (previously in charge of Google’s YouTube Kids and other kid-focused projects).

    I’m excited to announce that going forward, we have identified youth work as a priority for Instagram. We are accelerating our integrity and privacy work to ensure the safest possible experience for teens and building a version of Instagram that allows people under the age of 13 to safely use Instagram for the first time.

    It isn’t difficult to imagine the perils and pitfalls pre-teens could encounter while using the regular Instagram app, and mingling with all sorts of strangers. Because the app caters to teenagers and adults, its restrictions are minimal to accommodate to that age group. The fact that it allows nudity (albeit for artistic or body-positive purposes), and other explicit content, is the least of it.

    There, children are vulnerable and exposed to both predators who lurk on the platform, and other negative influences such as unrealistic body standards, shady chat groups with 18+ content, as well as abuse and bullying. Neither is the merciless bombardment from advertisers and product-pushing influencers appropriate for the many children on Instagram, whose minds are too easily influenced and too young to think critically and make conscious decisions.
    A lot of children, either by choice or by accident, migrate [from YouTube Kids] onto the broader YouTube platform. Just because you have a platform for kids, it doesn’t mean the kids are going to stay there. —Kumar

    Researcher Priya Kumar has spoken up to make the case that a kid-friendly Instagram in no way guarantees that children won’t find themselves on the main app sooner or later. Moreover, it will only serve to reel them in and get them hooked onto social media at an earlier age than ever, as well as tread the moral fence of monetizing their interactions on the platform to boot.

    Buzzfeed adds that after Facebook developed Messenger Kids in 2017 (boasting strict safety measures and parental controls), in 2019, a bug was discovered in the app which allowed children to join chats with complete strangers.

  • Instagram no longer allows adults to send DMs to underage users

    Instagram no longer allows adults to send DMs to underage users

    Instagram is trying to make itself safer for a certain category of users. Lately, the social network introduced a set of features that limit interactions between Instagram users to protect their privacy. In that regard, the most recent changes announced by Instagram are meant to protect underage users from adults who don’t follow them.

    The new changes will prevent conversations between adults and teens who don’t follow one another. When an adult tries to send a message to a teen on Instagram who doesn’t follow them, they will receive a notification that DMing them isn’t an option.

    In addition to these changes, Instagram will implement prompts to encourage teens to be more careful in conversations with adults they’re already connected to. Instagram will notify teens when an adult who has been “exhibiting potentially suspicious behavior” is interacting with them via direct messages.

    These messages are usually sent to teens if an adult is sending a large amount of friend or message requests to people under 18, and they include various options like block, report, or restrict the adult in question.

    But that’s not all! Instagram announced that in the coming weeks it will make it even more difficult for adults who have been “exhibiting potentially suspicious behavior” to interact with underage Instagram users. Many of these changes will be implemented in some countries this month, but they will be available everywhere by the end of the year.

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  • Facebook launches Instagram Lite for improved experience on budget phones

    Facebook launches Instagram Lite for improved experience on budget phones

    Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic everyone has become strongly dependent on their smartphone and internet connection. While many of us are used to upgrading their phone regularly (even when we might not need to), those in developing countries aren’t as fortunate.

    As you may know, smartphone innovation is mainly driven by hardware, which gets assembled in places like India, Vietnam, Taiwan and more. China is still the main smartphone-making hub, but this is slowly changing, with manufacturers like Samsung and Apple moving production away to other Asian countries mostly for economic reasons.

    While hardware is an asset, which involves a number of stakeholders, software is much easier to distribute. it can reach many more people, much quicker. That’s exactly what Facebook’s team is trying to achieve with the introduction of Instagram Lite.

    In a nutshell, this is a less demanding version of the Instagram app, which happens to cut only a few corners. Why? Well… not every country boasts yearly deals on the latest smartphones with unlimited data plans. Moreover, Apple simply isn’t a brand that fits everyone’s economic status. Brands like Xiaomi, VIvo and Oppo dominate markets like India, where the best-selling smartphones are budget models. They often offer less processing power, less storage and lower-tier connectivity hardware, which makes for limited performance under heavier load.

    You might not realize how demanding an app like Instagram or Facebook is, if you are using a high-end device (even if it’s from 2019). Running multiple apps, using navigation, taking photos etc., can quickly cause a budget phone to start acting up, so the Instagram Lite app will require only 2MB to download on Android (versus nearly 30MB for Instagram). Important features for the user experience such as dark mode, GIFs and Reels (Facebook’s version of TikTok, which is banned in countries like India and Pakistan), are kept in-tact. Corners are cut where it matters least: animations, icons, transitions are stripped-back and simple.

    This isn’t Facebook’s first attempt at such an app – Facebook Lite and Messenger Lite are great alternatives to the main versions of their full-sized brothers (or sisters!?). Speaking of family members, the main goal of the team behind this ‘lite’ idea is simple: help families and friends stay connected, despite the slower internet speeds and modest devices.

    Apps aren’t the full story. Google has made similar efforts to equip lower-end devices with Android Go, a much less-demanding version of Android, which is made to run apps like Instagram Lite, which is now rolling out in more than 170 countries worldwide, and will soon be available virtually anywhere with the upcoming global version.

    Tech can change the world, but the world can change tech too. It’s important to make phones and apps that can be used by anyone and anywhere!

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  • Instagram introduces Live Rooms

    Instagram introduces Live Rooms

    Instagram is further improving the live features of its app with new functionalities that allow up to four people to go live at the same time. The new feature is called Live Rooms and bumps up the number of Instagram users that could go live at the same time from two to four.

    Furthermore, Instagram revealed that Live Rooms offers creators additional ways to earn money and built their businesses. For example, Live viewers will now be able to purchase badges for the hosts and use other interactive features like Shopping and Live Fundraisers.

    At the moment, Live Rooms lacks any moderation controls, but Instagram announced that it’s “exploring more interactive tools such as offering moderator controls and audio features.” However, these won’t be available until at least a few months from now.

    Instagram users who’d like to take advantage of the new Live Room feature can easily swipe left and pick the Live camera option. Next, simply add a title and click on the Rooms icon to add your friends who you wish to join the live chat. As mentioned earlier, you can add up to three other people when you start a Live Room, but you don’t have to add them all at once.

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  • Instagram working on TikTok-like vertical Stories feed

    Instagram working on TikTok-like vertical Stories feed

    Instagram borrowed the short-form video format from TikTok and rebranded it as Reels. Now, the Facebook-owned platform is looking to clone another one of TikTok’s ideas.

    The social media giant has announced that it’s in the process of testing a TikTok-like vertical feed for Instagram Stories, a feature that was rather ironically borrowed from rival Snapchat.

    Alessandro Paluzzi was the first to spot the new feature and his screenshots reveal a fairly simple UI that informs users about the new ability to scroll vertically to view Stories.

    Instagram, which confirmed the feature’s development to TechCrunch, is probably planning to prioritize videos over photos moving forward, hence the updated Stories feed.

    Adam Mosseri, the Head of Instagram, recently implied that Reels and IGTV videos could be merged into a single content format alongside regular videos. After all, most users likely don’t know the difference. This would leave Instagram with a much cleaner and, more importantly, clearer UI for users to navigate.

  • Instagram launches Reels, competition for TikTok

    Instagram launches Reels, competition for TikTok

    Short-form video app TikTok has 41 days to complete a deal with Microsoft or any other U.S. company or else President Donald Trump has said that he will ban the app in the U.S. That’s because TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is based in China and a law in the country allows the communist government to order tech firms to collect intelligence from consumers and companies in the states and send it to Beijing. This is the same reason why outfits like Huawei and ZTE are considered national security threats in the states.

    NPR reported that twenty separate lawsuits accusing TikTok of capturing information about users’ facial characteristics, locations, and close contacts were merged into one class-action suit. The plaintiffs are minors who use the app and the suit states that the personal data collected by TikTok is sent to servers in China. ByteDance says that the servers it uses for TikTok are located in the U.S. with backups in Singapore. Experts for the plaintiffs said in the filing that personal data collected by TikTok is “under the control of third-parties who cooperate with the Chinese government. Such information reveals TikTok users’ precise physical location, including possibly indoor locations within buildings, and TikTok users’ apps that possibly reveal mental or physical health, religious views, political views, and sexual orientation.”

    With talk of a possible ban, many of the 100 million TikTok users in the U.S. have been looking for a new app to record their lip-syncing, dancing, singing, comedy bits, and protests. One app called Clash launched months early so that it could sign up TikTok members worried about losing the app to a ban. Instagram announced the launch of its short-form video feature called Reels. Instagram says, “Reels invites you to create fun videos to share with your friends or anyone on Instagram. Record and edit 15-second multi-clip videos with audio, effects, and new creative tools. You can share reels with your followers on Feed, and, if you have a public account, make them available to the wider Instagram community through a new space in Explore. Reels in Explore offers anyone the chance to become a creator on Instagram and reach new audiences on a global stage.”

    To use Reels, open Instagram and touch the camera icon in the upper left of the screen. On the bottom of the page, tap the Reels tab to get started. On the left side of the screen, you’ll see icons for Audio, Speed, Effects, and Timer. With the Audio setting, you can search for a song from Instagram’s music library or use your own by creating a reel with original music. If you share an original song on Reels, you will get credit for it. And your musical creation can be used by others by selecting “Use Audio” from your Reel.

    With AR Effects you can pick one from Instagram’s effect gallery which also includes effects made by creators all over the planet. This will allow you to create multiple-clips with different effects. If you are recording a Reel, you can record it hands-free by tapping on Timer and Countdown. A 3-2-1 countdown will alert you when your device has started recording.

    Perhaps one of the most important features on Reels is Align. This allows you to line up objects from your previous clips to help you record seamless transitions for outfit changes and more. And Speed lets you speed up audio and video. Reels can be recorded one at a time or all at once. Instagram says, “Record the first clip by pressing and holding the capture button. You’ll see a progress indicator at the top of the screen as you record. Stop recording to end each clip.”

    If you have a public account, your Reel can be shared in Explore or over your feed. If you use a private account, only your followers will be able to view your content from your feed. Original audio can’t be shared with this setting and others cannot share your Reels with others who don’t follow you. And a Reel can also be shared like a Story which means that it will disappear after 24 hours.

    “Reels in Explore showcases the best of trending culture on Instagram. Discover an entertaining selection of reels made by anyone on Instagram, in a vertical feed customized for you. If you love a Reel, you can easily like, comment or share it with your friends. You’ll also see some Reels with a “Featured” label. If your Reel is featured in Explore, you’ll receive a notification. Featured Reels are a selection of public Reels chosen by Instagram to help you discover original content we hope will entertain and inspire you.

    Reels gives people new ways to express themselves, discover more of what they love on Instagram, and help anyone with the ambition of becoming a creator take center stage.”

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  • Instagram opening advanced shopping feature to influencers

    Instagram opening advanced shopping feature to influencers

    Instagram will soon allow both businesses and creators to utilize its Shopping feature, meaning brands and influencers will have a greater ability to reach a customer base.

    According to Instagram, the change will go live on July 9 in every country that supports Instagram Shopping, and will require businesses and influencers to link to a single website that they own and sell from.

    “This update will give more businesses the power to sell on Instagram, and help our thriving creator community turn their passion into a living,” Facebook Australia director of sales Naomi Shepherd said.

    “Businesses of all kinds will now have access to our shopping tools, which is especially important in light of the economic challenges many are facing this year.”

    The update comes just two months after Instagram opened the doors for food retailers to sell on the platform by way of meal ordering platforms such as UberEats, Deliveroo or Doordash, and just one month after Facebook announced it was overhauling the shopping experience for brands and customers alike with Facebook Shops.

    The offering will let brands sell directly to customers through Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp through “shopfronts”, as well as offer brands a new way to sell products through Facebook Live.

    “It almost feels like they underplayed what it actually is,” retail strategist Salena Knight said at the time.

    “Up until now, it’s been quite difficult for a lot of businesses that aren’t at the enterprise level to be able to get that omnichannel, seamless experience across platforms. And now they’re able to offer that across Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Facebook. [It wasn’t] something I was expecting.

    “I certainly didn’t expect it for free.”

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  • Likes and followers more meaningfull post Covid-19

    Likes and followers more meaningfull post Covid-19

    As consumers around the world spend more time on social media in the Covid-19 era, likes and followers on social media are likely to become increasingly valuable to retailers.

    According to a new report by research firm Globaldata, 43.7 percent of international consumers are spending more time on social media due to the coronavirus pandemic. The firm is now advising brands to capitalize on this activity to promote purchasing and build shopper loyalty in a time of significantly dampened demand for non-essential goods.

    “Social media will play an even more important role in marketing post Covid-19, as many retailers are slashing marketing budgets to preserve cash to cope with the crisis, especially those that previously relied on traditional forms of marketing such as television and billboard adverts,” said Globaldata retail analyst Emily Salter. “Social media is a far cheaper method, especially if brands can leverage user-generated content and rely less on sponsored posts and collaborations.”

    The firm recommends retailers ensure their social media content is not too heavily skewed towards purchase-focused posts, with a significant number of followers facing financial instability following a global rise in unemployment. That will ensure engagement and boost likes and followers.

    “Retailers need to focus on aspects beyond products: elements of their brand identity that resonate with shoppers, the positive actions they have taken during the crisis, and building engagement to foster a sense of community,” said Salter. “These are all elements that shoppers will be able to relate to whether they are in a position to purchase items or not, building brand loyalty and influencing shoppers’ choices in the long term.”

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  • Facebook shuts down Instagram Lite app

    Facebook shuts down Instagram Lite app

    Instagram Lite, the app launched by Facebook two years ago in several countries to help users with less powerful smartphones has been given the ax. AndroidPolice recently noticed that the Instagram Lite app has been removed from the Google Play Store, while those who already have installed are now met with a message informing them that the app is no longer supported.

    TechCrunch was able to confirm with Facebook that Instagram Lite has been shut down and that people in those countries where it was available are now redirected to the full-fledged Instagram app:

    We are rolling back the test of the Instagram Lite app. You can start using the latest version of Instagram instead to connect with the people and things you love.

    The Instagram Lite app was available for download in countries like Kenya, Mexico, Peru, and the Philippines, but instead of expanding its availability, Facebook has decided to shut it down completely.

    However, it looks like this isn’t the last time we see a “lite” version of Instagram, as Facebook plans to process all the feedback it received and build a new version of Instagram Lite. Unfortunately, there’s no telling when the app will be launched, but at least we know it’s coming.

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  • Instagram launches online food-ordering apps

    Instagram launches online food-ordering apps

    Social media platform Instagram has launched new food-ordering tools to assist small-to-medium businesses facing difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic.

    Foodservice operators can now share food order stickers in Instagram Stories and as a button on their profiles.

    Consumers clicking on the Stories sticker or profile button will be taken to the business’ food-delivery platform to complete their purchase. They can also reshare the stickers with their own followers on Instagram Stories.

    “We heard really clearly that restaurants want help staying open,” said Instagram COO Justin Osofsky. “As you’re looking at what’s happening just naturally on Instagram, a lot of people are trying to promote gift cards and the ability to support them, and a lot are using Instagram to highlight their delivery services. This is taking something that’s already happening and making it a lot easier.”

    The Instagram features were rolled out in the North American market a fortnight ago and are now being rolled out globally in multiple languages, including in Hong Kong and other Asian markets.

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  • Instagram’s newest feature is all about GIFs

    Instagram’s newest feature is all about GIFs

    Instagram is one of the many social services that allows its users to add GIFs to their posts, but that’s where anything GIF-related stops. Let’s say your friend posts an animated sticker in stories and you wish to reply with a GIF. Well, that’s not possible, or at least it wasn’t until today.

    Earlier today, Instagram announced that users can now reply to their friends’ stories using GIFs pulled from GIPHY. In order to take advantage of the new feature, Instagram users must update their apps via the App Store or Google Play Store.

    Judging by the number of replies Instagram’s tweet received soon after the announcement, the ability to reply to stories with GIFs is a welcome addition to the service. Make sure to update your app to try it out now.

    Meanwhile, Instagram confirmed last week that it’s testing reactions to direct messages, another long-awaited feature that we might get in the not so distant future. Of course, these are the improvements that we know of, but there might be others in the pipeline.

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