We’re only 9 days into February as of the writing of this blog, and Adam Mosseri (head of Instagram) has already unveiled multiple updates for the platform.
We predicted some features or directions that we thought Instagram may take for this year in this post. But now we are firmly in 2023, Instagram are releasing their concrete changes.
You may have noticed some already, but some features are hidden and others are being introduced any day!
Notes
For me, this is a new feature that no one asked for. But here it is. As of the last two weeks Europe and Japan have finally caught up with the rest of the world having been granted access to this feature.
“Notes gives you a personal space to share updates as short text posts with certain people who can then reply to them using messaging on Instagram.” // Instagram Help
You have 60 characters to your disposal, but only one Note can be left at a time for your followers to read and privately reply to.
Quiet Mode
If you’re lacking self-discipline, then this feature could come in handy.
It’ll stop notifications to your phone for the days and times you specify. During your time in Quiet Mode, your followers will know if they go to message you so they know you’re not ignoring them.
When you come back from quiet mode, Instagram will give you an update on what you’ve missed.
Delete a photo within a published carousel
The amount of times I wished for this function after noticing a rogue or duplicated image in my 6-image carousel.
In a published carousel on your profile, you can now go back and remove duplicated or unwanted photos instead of removing the entire post and starting again.
Navigation bar changed
This is yet to come in the month of February. The Create button will be front and centre at the bottom of the home screen beside the Reels button. The Shop button will be removed entirely, but the feature won’t be disappearing.
This is a convenient change, which I think makes a lot of sense since the Create button at the top right of the screen has always been a little jarring in my opinion.
Business accounts can finally schedule posts in-app!
What. A. Relief.
Save money on your scheduling program subscription. Facebook allows scheduling, and finally Instagram does too. You’ll find it hidden in the Advanced Settings when posting, and it’ll come as a relief for many small businesses.
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(Kind of boring) bonus extras for 2023:
- Hidden Words for recommendations is a capability that allows you to tell Instagram what things you don’t want to be recommended on your feed or see on the Explore page.
For example, hidden words like ‘travel’ might be handy when you’ve planned your holiday and are no longer looking for travel influencers or ideas.
- Secondly, a ‘Not Interested Multi-Select’ means you can long-press on more than one post at a time in your Explore page and tell Instagram that you’re not interested in all of those things.
This can happen if Instagram has got the wrong end of the stick about something that it thought interested you as a result of something you’ve searched before, perhaps.
Instagram is changing all the time – sometimes you don’t realise until you think back to what it was like a year ago, or even 6 months ago!
If you’re looking for help with your Instagram account, feel free to get in touch to see how we can help.
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Holding a Bachelor of Communication Studies, as well as a heap of real-world experience, Jodie is a valuable contributor to our blog.
