So the first major update, in my opinion, the most major update is a new initiative, shall we call it? I don't know. Feature. It's a new feature called Instagram Favorites. Now, what this is, you may have already heard about this already. What this is, is the ability for people to favor accounts on their Instagram. And when you favor these accounts, right, they are going to appear higher in your feed. Now, the reason why this is such a big deal is because this is the first time that Instagram has basically given users the power to manipulate the algorithm. It is literally saying to you, "Hey, you want to see someone's content before everyone else?" "Well, that's fine. You favorite their account and you will see their content before everyone else." Is the algorithm will not decide when you're going to see this person's content. You will decide when you're going to see this person's content. Of course, the algorithm is still going to decide when you see everyone else's content...
The next update is called Instagram Live Scheduling. This one's quite a cool one. Basically, it's this new tool which is going to allow us to schedule lives 90 days in advance. So what that basically means is that we'll be able to create a feed post which is promoting a live, and people will be able to sign up to receiving alerts for that live before it actually takes place. So I'm going to put a screen recording here, which hopefully you can see, and it's basically from the launch post from the creators' account where they were talking about this new feature because, obviously, as with the case of all Instagram features, we're all going to get them at different times...
The next Instagram update is called Instagram Video. Now what Instagram Video is is a combination of video feed posts. So you know you can normally share video to your feed up to 60 seconds long. It's a combination of that content and IGTV. So they are merging the two, throwing away IGTV and creating Instagram Video. Now Instagram Video is going to live where IGTV used to live. And instead of that IGTV logo, it's just going to have like a play button. According to Instagram, this update is going to help make your video content more visible. I mean, I'm not buying that at all. The reason why they feel like it's going to make your Instagram content more visible is because they're going to allow 60-second video previews...
The next update, there's two things that fall under it, but I've just grouped it under Reels updates. Now, the first one is quite funny. The first one is that Facebook is getting Reels. The reason why I find it funny is that I'm just basically like, "So, everyone's parents have Reels now?" Is what you're telling me. I just still see Facebook as just where everyone's mom and dad is. So your mom and dad's gonna start making some Reels. That is like the most haunting idea. Like, I couldn't even imagine. My mom once created a Facebook page. If she's watching this, she's gonna laugh. She created a Facebook page once, and then she called me up and was like, "I've just created a Facebook page, and people have started to add me. Like, does this mean that everyone can see the photos on my..." I was like, "No. Sorry. Parents make me laugh. Parents in technology." Anyway, Facebook now has Reels. It's only available in the US...
The next Instagram update is, I don't even know if it has a name. It's basically a change to the audio controls on your Instagram Live. So basically, we all know how competitive Instagram is. And while they're trying to fly every other social networking channel out there, of course they set their eyes on defeating Clubhouse too. Now, does Clubhouse even need defeating anymore? 'Cause I kind of feel like, it's like, "Wow." But regardless, Instagram has created an option on their Live feature where you can actually turn off your video so that it is an audio-only experience...
Okay, another update. It's called the account status, like Instagram account status. It's basically this new feature which allows you to really easily see if your content has been taken down and why it's been taken down. It also allows you to submit your content for a review. None of this stuff is new. You've always been able to figure out if your content's been taken down and why. It's just that they've streamlined it so that all that information is available in one specific place. My thoughts on this are just like, I'm hoping no one watching this is really going to be affected by that because we shouldn't really be posting content which is in breach of Instagram's community guidelines anyway...
Q: What is Instagram Favorites?
A: Instagram Favorites is a new feature that allows users to favor specific accounts on their Instagram, making the favored accounts appear higher in the user's feed.
Q: What is Instagram Live Scheduling?
A: Instagram Live Scheduling is a tool that enables users to schedule their Instagram Live sessions up to 90 days in advance, allowing followers to sign up for alerts before the live stream.
Q: What is Instagram Video?
A: Instagram Video is a new update that combines video feed posts with IGTV, aiming to make video content more visible on the platform by merging the two types of video content.
Q: What are the updates related to Reels?
A: There are two updates related to Reels, one being Facebook getting Reels and the other about earning bonuses. Facebook now features Reels, and bonuses can be earned through this update.
Q: What is Instagram Live Audio Controls?
A: Instagram Live Audio Controls is a feature that allows users to turn off video during their Instagram Live, creating an audio-only experience, in a bid to compete with platforms like Clubhouse.
Q: What is Instagram Account Status?
A: Instagram Account Status is a new feature that helps users monitor the status of their account, including if their content has been taken down, why it was taken down, and the option to submit content for review.
