Instagram’s new Notes feature lets users post text messages

Instagram is pretty quick when it comes to iterating new features even taking into consideration the time needed for testing. Soon after Elon Musk revealed plans to add the option to write 4,000-character messages on Twitter, Instagram went live with its own take on the same feature.

Called Notes, the new feature allows users to send text messages via Instagram, something that many have been asking for for a very long time. These so-called Notes are short posts of up to 60 characters using just text and emoji, a lot less than Twitter’s maximum 240-character limit.

Anyway, if you’re an Instagram user, here is how you can take advantage of the new feature. First off, you must head to the top of your inbox, select the followers you follow back or people on your Close Friends list, and your note should pop up at the top of their inbox for 24 hours.

It’s more of a status message, but at least you can get replies to notes as DMs in your inbox. Apparently, the new feature has been implemented that way after Instagram learned that people would rather have an easy and convenient way to share their thoughts.

Besides Notes, Instagram announced that it’s testing new features in Stories like Group Profiles and Candid Stories. The former allows Instagram users to create and join so-called Group Profiles to share posts and stories in a dedicated, shared profile with friends.

Candid Stories is a new way to capture and share live moments in a story that’s only visible to those who also share their own. These can be captured from the stories camera, the multi-author story at the top of feed, or from the daily notification reminder starting after the first candid.

Last but not least, Collaborative Collections is a new feature being tested by Instagram that lets users connect with friends over their shared interests. This is done by saving posts to a collaborative collection in a group or 1:1 DMs.