Instagram celebrated its 10th anniversary! And I just got hit over the head with a shovel… In fact, just talking about it makes me want to curl up under my comforter and cry about how time flies. Hahaha, but no, of course not! Ten years ago, like many of you, I downloaded this new app onto my iPhone 4, wondering what this social network would offer that was different from Facebook. I actually remember my Facebook status from that day: “is playing with Instagram.” Yeah, 10 years ago we used to talk about ourselves in the third person on Facebook… Don’t judge me.
In short, Instagram is turning 10. To celebrate its anniversary, the social network has, of course, rolled out a bunch of new features to mark the occasion… Here’s a quick look:
A timeline of your archived stories
With this calendar, you can easily find your Stories—going back up to 3 years. Not just your photos, of course, but also the locations where they were taken (as long as you added a location sticker)—but above all, seeing what you looked like 3 years ago is priceless.
The Fight Against Cyberbullying
Instagram has been committed to combating bullying and cyberbullying for a year now. Several measures have already been taken, and Instagram is proud of these efforts. To continue this fight, the social network has announced new features.
First, the implementation of artificial intelligence that automatically hides comments similar to those previously reported. Users can then view these comments in the “View Hidden Comments” tab.
There is also an additional alert that triggers when a user attempts to post a series of malicious comments. In this way, Instagram aims to provide real-time feedback to users and encourage them to think about the consequences of their comments.
This feature has been in the testing phase for the past few days and applies to comments written in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese.
Shopping Feature on IGTV
If you’re confused by this title, let us explain! IGTV, short for Instagram TV, is a service launched by the app in 2018 that allows users to upload long-form videos (up to one hour). To celebrate its anniversary, Instagram has decided to integrate a shopping feature into IGTV… It’s sort of like home shopping 3.0, since users will be able to make purchases directly from the videos. But how? All you have to do is click the “Browse” button on the video to see the catalog of products featured in it. And Instagram is confident in the development of this feature because, in their view, it’s a real opportunity for brands to “showcase a product in greater detail, in a way that’s even more inspiring and immersive for members of their community.”
