Instagram tests out QR codes for its 'Nametag' feature

You may or may not know that Instagram has what's called a Nametag feature. And it looks like the company wants to add QR codes to it. App researcher Jane Manchun Wong discovered the change. Right now, Nametag is used within the Instagram app to allow other users to scan it so they can follow you. It shows your username and the Instagram logo within the white square. The background is customizable. While Wong was going through the app, she found the QR code option, which looks a bit more unique than usual QR codes we see with simplified Instagram logos thrown into the mix. But it seems this feature works with standard QR scanners. That means you can take your Nametag outside of Instagram and share it with whomever you want. As for whether this feature rolls out to all users, well, that's something we can't say right now.

Instagram imposes stricter measures on diet and cosmetic surgery posts

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Instagram wants to protect teens from some of the damaging effects of the social internet and the impact of promoting diet products to younger people. The company is clamping down on "get thin quick" weight loss and cosmetic surgery posts. Some of the posts will be hidden from those under 18, while others promoting "miraculous" weight loss products will be taken out. This change will also be coming to Instagram's parent company, Facebook.

According to Emma Collins, Instagram's public policy manager, "We want Instagram to be a positive place for everyone that uses it and this policy is part of our ongoing work to reduce the pressure that people can sometimes feel as a result of social media." She said they sought advice from experts in the field of social media policy.

Source: BBC

Instagram's new Threads messaging app can send automatic updates to your close friends

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If you keep a Close Friends list on Instagram and are keen on trying a new messaging app, you might want to check out what Instagram is cooking up. The company is testing a new Threads app, which is designed to be a standalone companion messaging app for Instagram. It's a way to contact your Close Friends list and share things like location, speed, and battery life. If those features seem to be familiar to you, it's Facebook's latest attempt to copy many of Snapchat's most popular features. The app will let you send automatic updates to your entire list of friends. It also gives you access to Instagram's full suite of creative tools, which include text, photo, and video messaging.

Facebook abandoned in May its previous attempt to make a standalone messaging app for Instagram. But it looks like the company wants to give it another shot, especially since its CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes that the future of its company will revolve around private messaging.

Source: The Verge

Mark Ronson makes first Instagram Story music video

Grammy-winning producer Mark Ronson partnered with Sony Music and Instagram to release the first-ever interactive music video on the platform's Stories feature. The video was for "Pieces of Us," a song featuring King Princess and off his new album, Late Night Feelings. The phone-filmed video was made specifically for Instagram Stories. With this feature being designed to be temporary, the video will appear in consecutive 24-hour cycles, each offering the viewer a different kind of interaction. Fans are encouraged to engage by adding polls, lyric stickers, and new Augmented Reality filters into their own Stories. Ronson has been incorporating the fan-made versions into his Stories in what Fast Company describes as "some sort of electro-beat, sticker-covered ouroboros." Eventually, the full video will be available on Ronson's IGTV.