INSTAGRAM TESTS A NEW FEATURE THAT ALLOWS CONTENT TO DISAPPEAR

Fri 24 June 2022:

Instagram, a photo-sharing platform owned by Meta, is experimenting with Notes, another new feature that would let users upload stuff that would disappear after a certain amount of time.

According to TechCrunch, the tool, which is currently being tested with a small group of users, enables users to publish brief comments, such as announcements, to their “Close Friends” circle or to followers who also follow them.

Unlike Twitter’s new Notes feature, which allows writers to post long-form content, Instagram’s version is more like sticky notes that disappear in 24 hours.

The feature was first spotted by marketer Ahmed Ghanem, who published screenshots on Twitter that suggests Instagram Notes will appear on the app’s direct messaging screen in a new row above the messages themselves.

According to screenshots, users will not get a notification about Notes but will be able to see them for 24 hours in the app, as well as reply to Notes via messages.

When compared to posting to Stories, the feature may help users highlight essential messages from friends that they do not want to get lost in their inbox.

According to the report, the platform will test the function to see how consumers react to it and whether it makes sense to push it out more widely.

Users can share information with close friends via these notes, such as whether they will be unavailable on call the next day or can be reached at an alternate number because they are traveling.