Instagram Update September 2021 – Goodbye Instagram Swipe Up Link, Hello New Features
Instagram constantly plays around with new features to improve the app and for users to create more engaging content for everyone to enjoy. Instagram typically tests new elements on a group of selected users before rolling out the new features to the whole app. If you’re an avid Instagram user then you’ll know all about the changes in the past. The platform never stops surprising us, and it can be challenging to keep up with the ever-changing environment for a business account. Here are two changes over the past few weeks that may affect your platform.
Instagram May Be Changing the Way We Re-Share Content
First up, re-sharing stories and posts are taking a turn. Instagram is rolling this feature out to a select group of users to give the company an idea of how users interact with this element and if it will be beneficial or not. This feature allows content to be re-shared through a sticker rather than a direct post. The content you interact with, such as comment, saving, or sharing, will appear under the sticker tray when creating a new story. Stories, posts, and reels viewed in the last hour will be found here, allowing you to select the content you would like to share, thus creating a sticker for users to click on and view themselves.
Instagram is playing around with this new feature as it allows users to be more creative with their story posts and create engaging content that will entice people to be more interactive. The content re-shared through the sticker will appear against the backdrop of an existing story you have made, giving you the freedom to personalise your content. Instagram constantly tests new features, so you may find this rolling out across the whole platform in a few months, or you may never see it again.
The Swipe Up Feature on Instagram Is Being Retired, well actually Transformed
Secondly, Instagram had already tested this feature out a few months ago, and they found it a success among users, thus from August 30th, it is gradually rolling out across all accounts. The swipe-up link is a feature that accounts with large followings regularly use across their stories to direct story views to a website to promote a particular product, share an article, or anywhere the content creator or business wants them to go.
The swipe-up link is transforming into a sticker where users can link stickers to external websites. Thus, all individuals have to do is tap the sticker, and they are taken there. Instagram has stated it aims to “streamline the stories creation experience” and enable more “creative control” to users. It allows people to re-size the sticker and place it wherever they desire on their story to make it more engaging for individuals to see. In addition, you can now respond and react to the stories that have a link sticker attached, which was not possible with the older feature. It was known that the swipe-up link was only available to what seemed to be accounts with over 10,000 followers or verified accounts. Currently, it appears to be the same with the new link stickers, as Instagram has stated they are “still evaluating” whether to roll it out to more users.
That’s all we have (for now) on what is going on surrounding Instagram’s ever-changing features. For a business, it’s essential to stay across what is being introduced into the space so you can be on top and utilise the new features to your advantage. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us, and we will be more than happy to help.
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