Instagram Features

"Instagram is the third most used social media platform". When I read this in Chapter five, I was honestly shocked. When I think of Instagram, I think of a collection of all social media outlets wrapped into one. Over the course of the app's existence, it has been constantly changing and adapting with the development of other outlets. It has always been a photo sharing outlet, similar to Facebook, but the platform has come a long way from the little beige polaroid icon it started as.

New features are constantly added keeping the app in competition with other social media. The story feature on the app reminds people of Snapchat; reels are like TikTok; the photo editing software is similar to VSCO; and the explore page is relatable to Pinterest, including the fact that users can save posts and organize them in different collections just as Pinterest does with their boards feature. And on top of all these features there is still more such as collage creation, boomerang videos, live streams, direct messages, and online shopping.

Instagram also maintains popularity by keeping up with current trends through their use of influencers. “Influencers” are a relatively new phenomenon that shifted from what used to be referred to as “content creators”. Influencers are a key component to keeping up with societal trends because usually they start them. It’s in their name, they influence their followers and other users and can promote the use of Instagram features through this. They have power to influence people into purchasing products which can indirectly promote Instagram’s shop feature, they can create aesthetically pleasing story posts that users will copy causing an incline in story usage, or they can simply go live, and thousands of people will join and interact within that feature.

There are many ways to use Instagram and many different features right at your disposal. I’m curious to know, what is your favorite feature on Instagram? What do you use Instagram for the most?

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