New Instagram features sometimes arrive with a lot of overture and pageantry (hello, no likes) and sometimes with absolutely none. That’s why when I noticed a bunch of new features in the app today, I thought I’d mention them. Mainly because a bunch of the new 2020 Instagram features are super. damn. cool. Ok, here we go.
Feature #1 – sort following by date
One of the newest instagram features is the ability to sort who you follow based on date. That is, who you followed way back when, and who you’ve followed recently. (Or first and last). This allows you to make sure you check in regularly with your oldest friends and to interact with new peeps who may not pop up in your feed yet.
Feature #2 – filtering by interaction
As I mentioned above, you can now sort who you follow based on latest or earlier. Well, on top of this nifty new feature, you can also now check out who of your followed peeps you interact with most, and least, and who is most shown in your feed. Cool, huh? Think of it as a funky way to figure out who you’re missing out on and who you’re getting a good daily dose of. This is what it looks like.
Feature #3 – GIF story responses
Quick reactions are great – but there ain’t a whole lot of ’em. And sometimes you need to say something more than just love heart eyes or 100% emoji. Well, the newest update now allows you to respond to your friends stories with a Giphy gif. (Homer Simpson style “Woo hoo!”) To use it, just download the newest update and tap the “Send message” response bar at the bottom, like you normally would for a quick reaction, and you’ll see the gif option in the far right corner.
Feature #4 – DMs have moved
You probably noticed this one because Instagram notified you. Yep, your DMs are no longer in the top right hand corner, they now live along the bottom bar of your feed, one position from the right where your notifications used to be. But wait, where are my likes and comments and other notifications?? Well, that brings me to feature number five.
Feature #5 – likes/comments/mentions and other notifications have moved too
Ok, I know, technically I could have mentioned this in the previous feature, but “four new instagram features” just didn’t quite have the same ring to it. Yep, you’ll now find all your normal like, comment and story mention notifications where your DMs used to be. Not gonna lie, it’s a liiiiiiittle weird to get used to. I kinda feel like likes belong in the main feed and dms belong elsewhere, but I get the sense that this change is part of Instagram’s move towards more “meaningful relationships”.
DMs kinda used to be easy to ignore, especially when you were focused on your feed… but now that they live in the bottom bar, where all the important other stuff is, they’re gonna be front and centre of mind.
What do you think of the most recent changes?
Let me know in the comments.
some stylish chick 