New Instagram features were released this week allowing users to tag friends and display photos of themselves on their Instagram profiles.
While there are many well developed communities and active users on the platform already without user tagging, the ability to see a group of photos with common topics had previously been limited to locations (thanks to Foursquare’s API) or hashtags.
Tagging other users was just something that only provided a link to another person’s Instagram account and a notification.
In this update, when someone tags a photo of a friend (or brand), users receive a notification and the photos are displayed in the new “Photos of You” section on their mobile profiles, allowing a user to easily curate and display photos tagged.
It’s easy to Add People to a photo on Instagram
- Pick a photo, crop, rotate, and add your favorite filter (or #nofilter if you’re just that good)
- Select the “Add People” option to open up the Tagging window
- Type in your friend’s (or favorite brand’s) name
- Choose done
- Add a caption and go
There are a few privacy settings in place to help keep tagging in check.
- Only the person who uploaded the photo can add people to it, you can’t tag other people’s photos.
- Users approve which photos tagged of them appear on their “Photos of You” section of the page.
- You can display or hide photos tagged of you on your profile (while still keeping the tag) by tapping the photo and your name in the image and choosing the options from the menu there.
- You can completely remove a tag by tapping the photo and your name and then “More Options.”
- As before, if your photos are set to “Private” only confirmed followers can see tagged photos on your profile, if they’re Public they’re public.
User tagging allows people to create more of a discussion on Instagram, grow the number of active users, and provide new creative outlets to connect people and images.
Tags offer an opportunity to connect brands with their users in a number of different ways
From a communication standpoint, you’re able to see when users tag your brand, the good and the bad. Use these “Visual Trends” to identify your highlights or areas of success or concern as you look through photos tagged of you and identify the health of your brand.
“Photos of You” opens up new real estate to recognize and feature content on profiles from their brand advocates, fans, and other featured users.
For example: Any local restaurant could invite users to submit photos of their food, display a few top entries on their “Photos of You” page, and reward the winners with an exclusive dining opportunity.
“Photos of You” isn’t an option on the web yet, but Android or iOS users can download the latest update of Instagram to start playing with tags.
Users have until May 16th to get acquainted with the new features before “Photos of You” go live and public for all to see.
What are some of your favorite brands to follow on Instagram?