Instagram is yet again testing something new. It is testing a new “Type” feature that is being used within the Stories feature. It is meant to allow for users to share messages that are text-based instead of photos or videos.
The Type feature is located at the bottom of the screen where you go to take a picture. It’s next to the Boomerang and Live options. Once you select that feature, you can choose how the font text appears and change the background color.
Why the Added Feature?
So why is Instagram adding this when video content is where it’s at? Because there is a need for it. Blogger, influencers and marketers have been known to take a picture with a neutral background and add some text themselves. As great as photos and videos are, sometimes it’s great to have whatever they are communicating in writing. A great example would be of a recipe; simply jot down the ingredients and how it’s prepared and then their followers can screenshot it and have it on hand. Now this will be a bit easier and less of a step for users. The default background color looks a lot like Facebook’s status update since it is a bright ombré.
There have been a lot of changes to Instagram lately. It looks like Type isn’t just the newest change though. According to WABetaInfo Instagram will also start to notify users when you take a screenshot of their story. It won’t send the first screenshot notification to the person, but it will inform you that the next time it will.
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