Instagram is developing new ways to interact in the comments section of posts. The Meta-owned app is currently testing the option to comment with GIFs.
Currently, Instagram users can only comment using GIFs when responding to Stories. When you tap on the 'Send message' bar on Instagram Story to comment, you will immediately be greeted with a GIF button.
Well, the button will also appear in the comments column. A Reddit user u/Particular_Lie_7995 reported seeing a comment in the form of a GIF below one of the posts.
In his post on Reddit, u/Particular_Lie_7995 also uploaded a screenshot showing a comment bar with a GIF button. It turns out that the button appears on the Instagram account of an iPhone user in the United States.
This GIF button can only be accessed by some Instagram users on iOS. It seems that this feature has just been rolled out on a limited basis, so not all users can taste it, as quoted from Android Police, Monday (20/2/2023).
This feature itself seems to have been developed for a long time. In October 2022, developer Alessandro Paluzzi found a GIF button in the Instagram feed comments bar which, when clicked, opened the GIF collection from GIPHY.
#Instagram is working on the ability to comment with GIFs 👀 pic.twitter.com/rPrLArVf1R
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) October 12, 2022
It is not yet known when the comment using GIF feature will be released for all Instagram users on iOS. Whether this feature will soon reach Instagram users on Android is still a question.
Meanwhile, Instagram has just released the Broadcast Channels feature to a handful of creators in a pilot phase. This feature allows creators to make announcements to all their followers through one special channel.
This photo and video sharing application also follows in Twitter's footsteps by releasing a paid blue tick. Instagram's paid blue tick rates start at USD 11.99 per month.