Instagram released many new features that help its users connect with more people. The features launched include Candid Stories, Notes, and groups.
At first glance, Candid Stories is similar to the popular BeReal application. Users can share photos taken using the rear camera and front camera simultaneously.
Users will also be able to get reminder notifications for uploading Candid content. This content will appear in the Stories bar at the top of the Instagram app and can only be seen by other users who have uploaded their own Candid content.
Instagram has indeed been testing this feature since a few months ago with the name 'Candid Challenge'. Currently the Candid Stories feature will be rolling out for testing in South Africa.
Apart from Candid Stories, there is also the Notes feature, which is immediately talked about. With this feature, Instagram users can create short statuses as conversation starters of up to 60 characters containing text and emoji.
Users can share Notes with followed followers or people on the Close Friend list. Notes only appear in the form of bubbles in Instagram DMs for 24 hours and will not be visible in the feed, as quoted from The Verge, Wednesday (14/12/2022).
Appearance of the Notes feature in the Instagram Photos app: Doc. Instagram
Finally, there is the Group Profiles feature which, as the name implies, allows several users to post content via one account. But content shared to Group Profiles will only be visible to group members, and cannot be shared with all followers.
Users can create a new Group Profile by tapping the Plus icon and selecting the Group Profiles option. Currently this feature is still being tested in Canada, Chile, and Taiwan.
Instagram also released a Collaborative Collections feature that allows users to save content from their feed into collaborative collections within groups or one-on-one DMs. Users can add content to Collaborative Collections by saving posts directly from the feed or sharing them with friends via DM and saving them from there.
