Instagram Launches Notes Feature and Trial Candid Stories

Instagram today introduced a number of new features. (photo: dock. Instagram)

JAKARTA - Today, Instagram introduced a number of new features, with the most notable one being Notes. This feature gives users the ability to share short posts of up to 60 characters.

Even though it is claimed to be similar to Twitter, the Notes feature will only appear in Direct Messages (DM) right above the inbox, in the form of a round icon. Notes will persist for 24 hours, similar to when uploading Stories, and replies will appear as DMs.

To leave Notes to a friend, users can create a message, then select friends who follow each other or people on their Close Friends list. This feature is available on iOS and Android.

Instagram reasoned, Notes came about after finding out users were looking for a simplified way to share what's on their mind and start a conversation.

"Notes give people a relaxed and spontaneous way to express themselves and connect with each other," said Instagram in its official blog post, quoted on Wednesday, December 14.

Furthermore, another set of new features are coming for Stories. The feature update is coming for Add Yours which was launched last year, encouraging others to participate in the trend that users create by sharing their own variations.

Now, Instagram is testing an update where users can specifically invite friends to participate by tapping "pass it on" when they see a trend they like.

The feature is meant to beat TikTok where crowds copy trends, whether dances, skits or AI effects set to music, by posting their own results.

There's also the Candid Stories feature, which according to Instagram is a new way for users and their friends to capture and share all the activity in a Story that can only be seen by those who also share their own Candid Stories.

Candid can be used in the Stories camera, multi-author Stories at the top of feeds, or from daily notification reminders. For this feature, Instagram will gradually roll it out to its global users.