Unless you keep a sharp on on the Instagram Creator’s page (@Creators), it’s hard to keep up with all the updates that roll out from month to month. Here’s a quick round-up of exciting updates you should know about.
The Chronological Feed is Back!
I’m starting with my favorite update so far. Back in the original days of Instagram, you would see posts in order of when they were published. There wasn’t some fancy algorithm trying to determine which posts you want to see more than others. With a feed like this, you saw everything from the accounts you follow. After many, many requests from users to bring this feed back, Instagram listened and you can choose this chronological feed!
As you can see here, you now have two new Instagram feed display options to choose from to control your main content display: Favorites – This displays the latest posts from accounts that you’ve added to your ‘Favorites’ list. You can add up to 50 accounts as Favorites, helping to prioritize updates from these users. Following – This shows you posts from all the accounts that you follow in the app, like the regular Instagram feed.
New Ability to Add a Moderator to IG Live Streams
Have you ever been hosting an Instagram Live and all of a sudden you’re getting spammed with comments that clearly are not related to your video? Maybe it hasn’t happened to you but you’ve viewed a live video as this happens to someone else. Trying to control those comments while still being on video is almost impossible. With this update, the streamer will be able to assign a moderator who can report comments, remove viewers from a stream, and turn off comments for specific viewers.
Instagram is Giving All Users Ability to Tag Products in Feed Posts
Previously, only “approved creators” could tag products in their feed posts, but now everyone gets this perk! If you’re unfamiliar with what this is, it means you can provide a direct link to products and brands the same way as tagging a friend in a post. Don’t you just love it when Instagram gives everyone the same access to features, not just the popular influencers? I love it.
A New Scheduled Sticker for Stories?
This isn’t official yet, but Instagram is testing another new way to promote upcoming events (also great for product launches!!). This is different from the Countdown Sticker you are used to seeing. This Scheduled Sticker would allow you to share a reminder for your events in your Story, with a direct link to an event listing where users can get more information.