Since its conception, Instagram has been a groundbreaking social media platform that has been helping not only individuals to share fantastic content online but also content creators who are looking to influence and profit.
You can do many things on Instagram today, such as posting photos and videos, editing and enhancing pictures, sharing Instagram Stories, live streaming, following and interacting with others, and so much more.
However, unlike other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram once did not allow users to comment GIFs. GIF comments on social media are helping individuals express themselves better and in a fun way.
Now, Instagram is ending that barrier, as it already allows users to comment GIFs on posts and Reels, among many other features rolled out recently. Here’s the news story.
Comment GIFs on Instagram posts, Reels
These new features on Instagram were previewed during a product education workshop in the company’s office in Mumbai, helping content creators “unleash their creativity and earn more from their Reels content.”
Various content creators attended the workshop to learn tips and tracks, the latest trends, and the many ways they can harness Instagram’s power and capabilities to connect and share. Some of the things tackled during the workshop included maximizing the use of their Instagram feeds, the role of direct messages or DMs today, new updates on Reels, and a deep dive into content strategy.
“Every day, teens and creators are using Instagram to tell their story in exciting ways. This is happening on Reels, as well as other surfaces like Feed, Stories and DMs. We wanted to highlight these diverse use cases to inspire creativity, as well as highlight some new features that will help them build an engaged community,” said Paras Sharma, Director of Content and Community Partnerships at Facebook India.
This new feature about commenting GIFs on posts and Reels was also announced by Instagram head Adam Mosseri in his recent Instagram Channels chat with Meta chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg.
“This is a bit of ‘finally feature,’ but we’re launching GIFs in comments today,” Mosseri told Zuckerberg.
The feature lets you comment on a post or something somebody else said with a GIF from Giphy. Before this, Giphy GIFs were only used in a limited way, such as in Stories.
To use this feature, begin by tapping the Comment icon on a post you wish you comment on. Then, tap the GIF icon located at the right side of the text box to access to GIPHY library. Lastly, tap on the GIF you wish to use in your comment.
More new features
Aside from these GIF comments, Meta also announced other new features on Instagram. One of these is Instagram Gifts. With this feature, creators can start receiving gifts from their fans, who buy them directly within Instagram using Stars.
Furthermore, new updates were also rolled out for the Reels editing feature. These include easily splitting a single clip into two clips and speeding up or slowing down the clips. Instagram users can now also swap a clip for another without changing the clips’ timing or order, as well as their audio and other Reel elements.
