Instagram introduces new Twitter alternative: Notes

Instagram introduces a new Twitter alternative called Notes. What can you do with the new function and does this mean the end of Twitter?

New feature on Instagram: Notes

Instagram has launched a new feature, which makes it look like the platform is competing with Twitter. The new Notes feature allows users to post a text-only message to Instagram. These must be short text messages, as the message may consist of only 60 characters.

No photos or videos can be added in Notes, only textual messages with emoji are allowed. With the new feature, Instagram hopes that users will share short thoughts or questions to create more interaction between users.

This is how the new Notes feature works on Instagram

To share a text message via Notes, go to the list of all your private conversations. Here you get the option at the top to share a kind of ‘story’, but now in the form of a text message. To add your own, tap your own profile picture and type the post you want to share.

The notes of your followers can also be found here. So Notes is actually a kind of list of ‘stories’ from your followers, but now in the form of text messages instead of photos or videos.

What does the introduction of Notes mean for Twitter?

With the introduction of Notes, Instagram becomes a direct competitor to Twitter. Twitter currently offers the option to share messages of up to 280 characters, which is a lot more. It remains to be seen how Instagram will develop the new feature, but the first step as a Twitter alternative has already been taken.

Instagram seems to deploy the new feature at the right time, because the Twitter chaos after all the changes Elon Musk introduced has not yet been resolved. As a result, many Twitter users were looking for an alternative, which Mastodon was often perceived as too complicated. Instagram’s new simple function may well respond to this.

Other new feature: group profiles

The introduction of Notes coincides with the launch of another new feature: the creation of group profiles. Many people already shared an account by logging in to the same profile on multiple devices. Now it is possible to create a joint profile. Individual users can share photos and messages on this profile that only members of the group can see.

Within the group, a distinction is made between group members and group managers. Group admins have the option to post content, group members only see what is being shared. This way it is much easier to manage a joint profile!

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