Instagram's Latest Features in 2024: What You Need to Know

As one of the world’s leading social media platforms, Instagram constantly evolves, introducing new features to enhance user experience. What started as a simple photo-sharing app has expanded to include Stories, Reels, and more interactive tools. Over the past year, Instagram has rolled out several exciting updates designed to benefit both individual users who want to share their daily lives and businesses looking for innovative ways to engage their audiences. Here’s a breakdown of seven must-know features that can help you get the most out of Instagram in 2024.

Broadcast channels & Social sections

Instagram has introduced special spaces for content creators with large followings, allowing them to send messages directly to their followers—similar to Telegram’s broadcast channels. While currently limited to select creators, Instagram plans to make this feature widely available, offering a great way to manage private communities and direct audience engagement. 

If you see a speech bubble icon next to a link on a creator’s profile, it’s likely a shortcut to their Broadcast Channel or Social Section.

Refer here for a tutorial on creating one.

Differences between broadcast channels & social sections

Directly share comments to Stories

Ever come across a great comment on a post that you wanted to share? Previously, this required taking a screenshot and manually posting it, but now Instagram lets you share post comments directly to Stories in just one step.

For iOS users, simply swipe left on a comment in the post or Reels and tap the ‘+’ button to share directly to Stories.

Android users can long-press a comment and then tap the same ‘+’ button to share the comment to Stories.

This feature makes sharing engaging comments much easier and faster!

Schedule posts in advance

Instagram now allows users to schedule posts in advance, manage social media content more efficiently, and ensure posting during peak audience activity times for increased exposure and interaction. This update is particularly useful for brands and creators who want to streamline their social media strategy.

Customizable Link Names in Bio

Many brands add links in their Instagram bio. Previously, IG only displayed the URL, and one had to click to know the content of the link. With the update, we can now add names to these links, which helps increase click-through rates as users are more likely to click on links with a clear source. Personalized link names can also strengthen brand messaging and align the link with the brand's overall image.

IG Sticky Note Feature

Instagram has launched an official test feature called "Sticky Notes," similar to Stories, visible only for 24 hours. This content appears at the top of the "Messages" page. The feature is akin to LINE's status messages and can be used to record moods or brief thoughts. Other users can directly reply to your "Sticky Note" messages. When posting a Sticky Note, you can choose to share the content with IG close friends or users you have chatted with.

GIF replies to posts

Using GIFs to comment on posts can bring a more engaging social experience for brand operations, as dynamic images attract more attention than plain text. Brands can create custom GIFs to showcase product features, allowing users to get a more intuitive feel. Appropriate GIFs can also be used to quickly respond to user comments, enhancing interaction between the brand and consumers.

For an overwhelming number of comments, setting up auto-replies can be an efficient solution.

Reels add "replay count" data

Instagram is refining its analytics dashboard to help users understand their Reels more deeply, introducing a new metric: "replay count," and redefining the play count for Reels. Now, Reels' play count includes not just the initial play but also the user's repeat views.

Instagram also plans to roll out new features in the coming months, allowing creators to monitor the audience retention of their Reels in real time through an interactive retention graph.