CNA – Instagram on Tuesday launched a slew of new features, among them a Notes function for users to share their thoughts with friends and followers.
Notes are short posts of up to 60 characters using just text and emojis, said Instagram’s parent company Meta.
The new feature bears some similarity to text-heavy Twitter, which has a 280-character limit for posts.
To leave a Note, users go to the top of their Instagram inbox. After typing a message in the “share what’s on your mind” box, they can choose whether to send it followers they also follow back, or people on their “close friends” list.
A Note will then appear at the top of their inbox for 24 hours, while replies will arrive as direct messages in the sender’s inbox.
There’s no limit on the number of Notes users can send in a day, but there will be only one active Note at any given time.
Meta said in a post on its website, “During testing, we learned that people liked having a lightweight, easy way to share what’s on their mind and start conversations.
“From asking for recommendations to sharing what they’re up to, Notes give people a casual and spontaneous way to express themselves and connect with each other.”
Last week, the New York Times reported that Meta was considering whether to position Notes as a direct competitor to Twitter, and weighing if it should be released as a standalone app.
The tech giant also announced on Tuesday that it was testing other new features on Instagram.
Candid Stories, for one, appears to be an attempt by Meta to recreate a key feature of BeReal for both Instagram as well as Facebook, according to Engadget.
