What are Instagram Stories and Zoom?
Instagram is a popular mobile photo-sharing service owned by Facebook. It allows you to share photos with followers and has been at the center of the ‘InstaCeleb’ and ‘selfie’ cultural phenomena. However, in recent years it’s been challenged by the rise of Snapchat, an ephemeral video messaging service. Recently Instagram has introduced two new features, which it hopes will allow it to stay ahead of the game.
Stories and Zoom both bring new functions to the app. Read on for a quick explanation.
These are strikingly similar to Snapchat stories – they allow users to create sequences of photos and/or videos, which expire after 24 hours. Instagram allows you to add text and color to the images, so you can be as creative as you like.
As well as your own stories, you’ll see other people’s appear at the top of your news feed. You can skip through and rewind stories by simply swiping through the photos and videos.
However, unlike other posts on the platform, you won’t be able to comment on the story, unless you directly message the creator.
As well as Stories, Instagram has introduced a new feature called Zoom, which pretty much does exactly what it says on the tin!
By pinching on a photo or video, you’ll be able to see every detail close-up. However, the image quality won’t necessarily be great if you zoom in to an extreme level, so don’t set your expectations too high.
What do you make of Instagram’s latest changes? Let us know by tweeting to us or posting a comment below.
