Have you seen it yet, the new Instagram update? Getting used to it, right? Even I, as a so-called 'Instagram expert', still have to find my way around it. Because: not only has the layout changed, a new function has also been added, Instagram Guides. In this article you can read all about this new update, which puts shopping and video even more centrally within the app. What's new? What has changed? And: what does this mean for the future of Instagram?
Instagram update: what's new & different?
As a loyal Instagram user, you probably haven't missed it: a number of things have changed in the app. Here are the changes in a nutshell:
The notification button has been replaced by the shop button . Where back in the days you could view your special lead notifications via the heart symbol in the bottom navigation bar, you can now find the shop button in the same place. And do you want to view the notifications? Then from now on you first have to go to the home button (house symbol). There you will now find the notification button in the top navigation menu, top right, next to your DMs.
The post button has been replaced by the Instagram Reels button . Do you want to post new content? You can no longer do this via the plus symbol in the middle of the bottom navigation bar. Here too, a switch trick took place. The post button was replaced by the Reels button, which will make you disappear ' down the Reels rabbithole' in no time . The plus symbol is now next to ( surprise) the notification button. Via home, in the navigation menu at the top right.
Instagram Guides . New for all users is Instagram Guides. The blog function within Instagram, which is recognizable by the 'magazine symbol'. Guides has been available for a while for some large beta accounts, but from now on we can all get started with it. Guides make it possible to create a kind of mini-blog around one topic with text, images and possibly shopable products. Think of an Instagram guide with the ' The nicest sleeping places in the Netherlands ' or a ' Small Bizzz Gift Guide (Interior) '. But also, for example, Instagram Guides around serious topics such as ' Coping during COVID-19 ' . You can find Guides on someone's profile, in the bar just above the feed. As soon as someone has created his or her first Guide, the magazine symbol is added to this bar.