This August we’ve had some key visual changes to Instagram, including a major grid update, an update to the carousel capabilities and improvements to insights.
Carousel updates
You can now post up to 20 photos or videos in a single post! Storytelling has become increasingly popular across social media over the past few years, whether it’s a holiday trip, or a monthly round up this update gives users more flexibility and a more cohesive experience. This is likely to change the user’s experience, rather than scrolling through static posts in the feed spending more time on an individual post will help the user feel more connected to a brand or creator.
Instagram grid display
You may have already noticed that Instagram is testing a new display on the grid with vertical thumbnails, instead of the traditional square thumbnail. When making the announcement Instagram chief, Adam Mosseri, shared that most of the content uploaded to Instagram today is vertical, in photo 4:3 format or 9:16 video and cropping those formats down to square often doesn’t work visually. You’ll recognise this format from the reels only feed available on the individual profile view.
For Creators and Businesses Specifically
Improvement to insights
“Views are in, plays are out” – In Reels, plays will be relabelled as Views. Other metrics such as Accounts reached, Accounts engaged, Interactions and Watch time will continue to exist within Insights but their locations will shift.
