In July, Instagram started allowing users to respond to Stories content by sending photos and videos, complete with Instagram effects such as filters, stickers, and hashtags. It also added messaging features, the ability to include multiple images or videos in a single post, and a Stories feature—similar to its main competitor, Snapchat, which allowed users to post their content to a sequential feed, with each post accessible to others for 24 hours. The changes included a feed more focused on Instagram’s content algorithms, full-screen photo and video posts, and changing the format of all of its videos to Reels. In July 2016, it announced that users would be able to turn off comments for their posts, as well as control the language used in comments by inputting words they consider offensive, which will ban applicable comments from showing up.
It was reported that these changes were primarily intended to discourage third-party clients replicating the entire Instagram experience (due to increasing monetization of the service), and security reasons (such as preventing abuse by automated click farms, and the hijacking of accounts). Instagram has developed and released three stand-alone apps with specialized functionality. In June 2021, Instagram launched a native affiliate marketing tool creators can use to earn commissions based on sales. In April 2019, Instagram added the option to “Checkout on Instagram”, which allows merchants to sell products directly through the Instagram app. In February 2016, Instagram announced that it had 200,000 advertisers on the platform. In June 2014, Instagram announced the rollout of ads in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, with ads starting to roll out that autumn.
In November 2019, it was announced that Instagram would start to roll out a new feature to Brazil known as Instagram Reels. Albums were introduced in February 2017, which allow up to 10 minutes of video to be shared in one post. The addition was seen by some in the technology media as Facebook’s attempt at competing with the then-popular video-sharing application Vine.
However, unlike post likes, the user who posted a comment does not receive notifications about comment likes in their notification inbox. On May 11, 2016, Instagram revamped its design, adding a black-and-white flat design theme for the app’s user interface, and a less skeuomorphistic, more abstract, “modern” and colorful icon. The slideshow banner on the top of profile pages, which simultaneously slide-showed seven picture tiles of pictures posted by the user, alternating at different times in a random order, has been removed. Furthermore, one row of pictures only has three instead of five photos to match the mobile layout. In June 2015, the desktop website user interface was redesigned to become more flat and minimalistic, but with more screen space for each photo and to resemble the layout of Instagram’s mobile website. In November 2012, Instagram launched website profiles, allowing anyone to see user feeds from a web browser with limited functionality, as well as a selection of badges, and web widget buttons to link to profiles.
A comparison of users with non-users showed boys with an account differ from boys without in terms of over-evaluation of their shape and weight, skipping meals, and levels of reported disordered eating cognitions. A 2021 study by Büttner & Rudertb showed that not being tagged in an Instagram photo triggers the feeling of social exclusion and ostracism, especially for those with higher needs to belong. Mackson et al. 2019 found users were less lonely than non-users and Instagram membership predicts lower self-reported loneliness. Their study showed presence of depressive symptoms in a user could positively predict they would post.

InShot – AI Video Editor

After the update (which is rolled out to a segment of the user base) the Instagram Direct icon transforms into Facebook Messenger icon. Meta issued a public apology, stating that a technical error led to the unintended recommendation of such content. Confirming ‘lurking’, this study found that those who use Reels for peeking neither created any content nor participated, instead they were only keen on watching others content. The research findings suggested that user motivations and socio-psychological predictors influence people’s usage behaviours with Instagram Reels. This study identified seven motivations behind Reels usage; socially rewarding self-promotion, entertainment, escape, surveillance, novelty, documentation, and trendiness. After a period of testing, a duration of up to three minutes was announced in January 2025.

  • In September 2022, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined the company $402 million under privacy laws recently adopted by the European Union over how it handled the privacy data of minors.
  • In November, Instagram began to support Alt text to add descriptions of photos for the visually impaired.
  • Albums were introduced in February 2017, which allow up to 10 minutes of video to be shared in one post.
  • A camera inside Direct lets users take a photo and send it to the recipient without leaving the conversation.
  • The policy update also introduced an arbitration clause, which remained even after the language pertaining to advertising and user content had been modified.

In April 2024, Instagram announced that they would start testing new tools “within weeks” to fight sextortion, a form of blackmail involving intimate pictures sent online. In December 2023, Instagram launched a podcast titled “Close Friends Only” featuring conversations among celebrities. Also in February 2023, Zuckerberg announced that Meta would start selling blue “verified” badges on Instagram and Facebook. In September 2022, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined the company $402 million under privacy laws recently adopted by the European Union over how it handled the privacy data of minors. Instagram also announced that adults would not be allowed to message teens who don’t follow them as part of a series of new child safety policies. In February 2021, Instagram began testing a new feature called Vertical Stories, said by some sources to be inspired by TikTok.

Google Photos: Backup & Edit

  • In May 2017, Instagram once again updated the Explore tab to promote public Stories content from nearby places.
  • While Instagram has a neutral gender-bias format, 68% of Instagram users are female and 32% are male.
  • In July 2016, it announced that users would be able to turn off comments for their posts, as well as control the language used in comments by inputting words they consider offensive, which will ban applicable comments from showing up.
  • In December 2013, Instagram announced Instagram Direct, a feature that lets users interact through private messaging (colloquially called “DM” OR “DMs”; in some regions, the messages may be known simply as “direct”/”directs”).
  • The move was seen as a way to prevent users from deleting photos that don’t garner a desired number of “likes” or are deemed boring, but also as a way to limit the “emergent behavior” of deleting photos, which deprives the service of content.

The Wall Street Journal reported that some parents are concerned about the effects of short-form videos on their children, as there is no way to disable Instagram or set limits. Researchers from the Guizhou University of Finance and Economics and Western Michigan University found that short-form videos like YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels may make it easier for young adults and children to develop addictive behavior because 0xbet short-form videos provide “short bursts of thrills”. The number of monthly users also increased from 1.5 billion in 2022 to 1.8 billion as of 2024.

Body image

It helps users easily identify legitimate accounts amidst the vast number of profiles on the platform. In June 2017, Instagram revised its live-video functionality to allow users to add their live broadcast to their story for availability in the next 24 hours, or discard the broadcast immediately. In May 2017, Instagram expanded the augmented reality sticker feature to support face filters, letting users add specific visual features onto their faces. In March 2021, a feature was added that prevents adults from messaging users under 18 who do not follow them as part of a series of new child safety policies. A new update in November 2016 let users make their private messages “disappear” after being viewed by the recipient, with the sender receiving a notification if the recipient takes a screenshot.

Features and tools

Initially a purely photo-sharing service, Instagram incorporated 15-second video sharing in June 2013. In April 2016, Instagram added a “Videos You Might Like” channel to the tab, followed by an “Events” channel in August, featuring videos from concerts, sports games, and other live events, followed by the addition of Instagram Stories in October. The tab was updated in June 2015 to feature trending tags and places, curated content, and the ability to search for locations. Instagram said that this is to prevent abuse and so that hashtags do not help users gain views, but it has been noted that using hashtags is the only free method for a user to reach past their existing followers. In 2022 this was again tested on some users, and in April 2023 the ability to search recent hashtags was removed entirely. In December 2017, Instagram began to allow users to follow hashtags, which display relevant highlights of the topic in their feeds.
According to Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist and chief of Stanford University’s dual diagnosis addiction clinic, brief attention-grabbing videos act as powerful stimuli triggering dopamine surges akin to other addictive behaviors. Recent studies highlighted the connection between short-form videos such as Instagram Reels and the brain’s reward system, specifically dopamine release. When children watch short-form videos, they learn to expect continual stimulation and fast-paced changes, which can cause problems when engaging in activities that require greater focus, such as reading.

In January 2011, Instagram introduced hashtags to help users discover both photos and each other. Users can also “archive” their posts in a private storage area, out of visibility for the public and other users. On August 2, 2024, Turkey blocked Instagram after the platform deleted posts from users offering condolences for the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

User characteristics and behavior

The Android version of Instagram was released in April 2012, followed by a feature-limited desktop interface in November 2012, a Fire OS app in June 2014, an app for Windows 10 in October 2016, and an app for iPadOS in September 2025. This renaming gave an even bigger response, it rapidly gained popularity, reaching 1 million registered users in two months, 10 million in a year, and 1 billion in June 2018. The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. You can find your favorite apps—like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more—under the Apps section in the left navigation of the Microsoft 365 Copilot web app. Microsoft 365 also includes security features and device management tools. AI is built into the Office apps you know and trust.