Instagram’s New Features for 2018

We all love a good Instagram update no matter how big or small it is, it’s always exciting!
So for all those snap happy people, what has Instagram got in store for 2018 so far? We can confirm that Instagram have rolled out quite a number of features that their users are absolutely going to love, however, be warned some of these updates have not been rolled out to everyone at that same time, but that’s not to say that these new features wont be hitting you very soon.
Most of these features relate to Instagram Stories – new features that make your stories look even better.
So what are these new updates?

Instagram Story Updates:

There are some great new features that have been added for the purpose of Instagram Stories and we wanted to share them with you:
1. Gifs in Insta Stories
As if Insta Stories wasn’t a great feature already, you can now be even more creative and add animated stickers (GIFs) to your Insta Stories. So not only can you create an amazing story you can jazz it up and make your story stand out. There is a search feature available so that you can search for specific GIFs.
2. Resizing Insta Stories & Videos
Such a simple feature but really effective and all at the touch of your fingers. Gone are the days of your stories having to full screen, simply pinch your screen and resize your images or videos as simple as a,b,c. This simple feature allows your Stories to be more personalised and creative.
3. New Fonts available for Insta Stories
Who would of thought that this little feature would be so appreciated, It’s the little things in life that we all love. You can now change the font of text in your Insta Stories, although only a few are available we are sure Instagram will continue to add more fonts in the future.
4. The New ‘Type’ Feature in Insta Stories
Another new feature to spice up your Insta Stories, just a simple change of background colour. This feature allows you to change the background colour whilst placing a picture or video behind it. A pretty cool feature. Who said you need Photoshop to make your pictures look cool?
5. Stop Motion in your Insta Story
Well isn’t this a cool little feature. Let’s see how we can explain it, think of a picture flip book – it is basically that on Instagram. A collection of photos put together in the form of a video, whereby the objects move. This is going to be a real great feature for the creative people out there, it will definitely be interesting to see how people utilise it.
6. Screenshot alert
This great little feature allows you to see who has taken a screen shot or recording of your Insta Story – It is a great feature for connecting with people and seeing who loves your stories. A little sun icon will appear next the persons username if they have taken a screenshot.
7. Share your Insta Story to Facebook
As soon as you have posted your Insta Story you can now automatically have it shared on Facebook, twice the shares and double the reach. What more could you ask for?
8. Focus Feature on Insta Stories
Again who needs Photoshop when you have this cool feature. The focus feature allows you to focus on something specific in your photo whilst blurring out the rest of the photo. Especially great if you want your photos to appear professional.
9. Replay Privacy Controls
So we all know Snapchat and Instagram are in competition with each other, needless to say we think Instagram did this better. This new feature gives you the ability to decided how many times the recipient of your message is allowed to see or play your post. i.e. Just once or multiple times. This feature is especially great for businesses who are offering out discounts or promotional codes.
Follow Hashtags

This has to be one of our favourite new features. So what is it? It’s pretty much what it says on the tin, it’s the ability to follow specific hashtags without having to actually follow someone. Whatever you are interested in simply search the hashtag and select ‘follow’ this means posts will appear in your feed from anyone who uses that hashtag. It’s a great way to meet new people and connect, it is also great exposure for you as you reach a much wider audience.
Recommended for you posts

This has probably been long awaited, this new feature recommends posts in your home feed that you may be interested in based on the accounts you already follow. Needless to say another great feature to help you connect with other like minded people, especially great for businesses.
Online Status Check

Simply what it say, you will be able to see when people are online or live, and vice-versa, Just like you can on Facebook. The same rules apply you can turn this feature off as to appear offline if you really don’t want people knowing you are online.
Instagram New Updated Bio’s

Bio’s no longer need to be a boring a tedious job, you can now add hashtags and usernames in your Instagram Bio. Why is this great? Well the use of hashtags lets people know what you are interested in and all about (Plus the bonus of showing up in hashtag follows), and usernames allows you to connect and basically a sign of endorsing someone. You scratch my back ill scratch yours.
Instagram Shopping

We saved the best for last! This new feature is revolutionary for businesses, Instagram Shopping allows businesses to tag up to 5 items in a post giving the ability to show product information such as price and item details along with a link that takes you directly to the website for instant purchase. For more detailed info about Instagram Shopping read here.

Some interesting and revolutionary new features that have been delivered by Instagram this year and we couldn’t be more excited, so if you haven’t heard of some of these features get onto Instagram now and start getting snap happy. Before we let you go we just wanted to let you know that rumour has it that Instagram have got a few huge updates that are due to be released in the coming months and some more exciting than ever, so watch this space for the latest developments.