Instagram never ceases to amaze with the features they keep rolling out. Big or small, each new feature on Instagram is discussed widely. Even though Instagram stories were introduced in 2017, the company strives to make the experience better for the users. However, what can be better than the current version of Instagram? It is just January 2018 and we have already been blessed with some fantastic new features. We wonder what the rest of the year has in store for this social media platform. For now, let us introduce you to these features.

GIFs are here

Instagram has partnered with Giphy to bring GIFs to your stories. That’s the best news we have heard in a long time. However, Instagram is still testing this feature. Hence, it might not be available to all the users. The GIFs can be used in your stories just like the native Instagram stickers. Update your Instagram app to the latest version to check if you have access to GIFs in your stories.

Focus on the important things

The super-zoom feature is absolutely fantastic. There are four different settings, each with a different kind of music. These four effects within the super-zoom option on your Instagram stories allow you to showcase one particular thing in the picture. Although this feature is also being tested and not everyone has it, it will be available to all the users soon.

Text-only stories

Up until now, users could take a photo and manually add text to create text-only stories. So, how is this new feature different? Well, the “Type” option, again not available to everyone yet, offers pre-programmed backgrounds within the stories. The new fonts are also much more fun to play around with. Not just that, if you tag someone on Instagram stories, they will be able to repost your story for the next 24 hours. This is great for brands and social media influencers.

Activity status

Following the footsteps of Whatsapp, Instagram has rolled out the ‘last active’ feature. When you go to the inbox tab in your Instagram, you can now see the activity status of the friends you had a direct conversation with. However, you can turn it off from the settings. This will not allow anyone else to see your last active time while simultaneously view the activity status of your friends. However, this is good news for brands who communicate with users on Instagram because customers are likely to interact with the brand if they see their account as active.

Screenshot updates

We are still on the fence about this one. Now, whenever you take a screenshot, a notification will pop up. This is to let the users know that whenever they take a screenshot, the other person will be notified. So, the next time you see a great book recommendation in someone’s stories, go the old-fashioned way and jot it down.

So, which of these features excite you the most?  Have you tried any of these yet?