Instagram co-founders Systrom and Krieger leave Facebook

In a move that seemingly echoes the earlier departure of WhatsApp co-counder Jan Koum, Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have announced their resignation from Facebook. First reported by The New York Times, the announcement was confirmed by Systrom in a blog post. While Koum reportedly left over apparent disagreements over user privacy and data-sharing, Systrom states they want to take time off “to explore our curiosity and creativity again.” Rumour has it though that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s meddling into how Instagram is run has resulted in the two leaving. But Systrom did not speak out about this in any way. Systrom wrote, “We remain excited for the future of Instagram and Facebook in the coming years as we transition from leaders to two users in a billion. We look forward to watching what these innovative and extraordinary companies do next.”

However, with Instagram being considered Facebook’s most successful acquisition, it seems Facebook is becoming increasingly reliant on Instagram to secure its future. It has been seen as a fast-growing and successful alternative to Facebook for teenage users who have become disillusioned by Facebook’s privacy violations and all the other issues the social network finds itself in, including crises surrounding election interference, fake news, and the perception that Facebook isn’t healthy for democracy or society. With its founders gone, it remains to be seen how independent Instagram will be from its parent company. And whether this would completely change how the app works.

Source: The Verge

Instagram introduces emoji shortcuts for comments

You might have noticed that when you try to comment on an Instagram post, a number of emojis show up above your keyboard. Well, Instagram wants to make it easier for you to comment using just emojis. This has been publicly tested since May on both Android and iOS but now it’s getting a wider rollout on both platforms. It unfortunately doesn’t show up yet in other areas, like when trying to reply to stories or when you want to caption your own post. But it does shorten the time you’ll need if you just want to comment emojis on someone’s post. If your device just got the latest version of Instagram, then you’ll have access to this feature.

Instagram boosts security features, makes applying for account verification easier

If you want to get your Instagram account verified, it’s now much easier to do so. You can start the process right from your phone. But that doesn’t guarantee your application will be approved, though. But if you want to kick start the process, just head to the Settings page and tap on Request Verification. From there you’ll need to give your account name, full name, and legal or business ID. All these information are necessary to get you a shot at being verified. It’s definitely easier for public figures, brands, or celebrities to get approved or if you meet certain requirements. But there is also an option to reapply down the road if your application gets rejected at first.

Aside from simplifying user verification, you can now also use third-party authenticator apps like Google Authenticator and DUO Mobile to enable two-factor authentication. To further boost authenticity, there is also an About This Account feature that shows you when an account was created, what country the account is located in, ads the account is running, whether the user changed usernames in the past year, and whether it shares followers with other accounts.

Source: BGR

Instagram tries to build virtual communities for college students

Remember how Facebook used to be an online community to connect Harvard students? Well, it seems the social network wants to connect with its past and is extending this to its other social network Instagram. The Facebook-owned company is testing out a feature that will bring college students together into groups. Instagram is inviting select users to join groups for their schools. The social network is able to figure this out based on the accounts they follow, their connections, and public posts. This can be seen as Instagram’s attempt to attract the younger set of users who now refuse to use Facebook.

Those who opt in need to choose their university and graduating year from a set of predetermined choices. Once they’re in, Instagram will show them lists arranged by members’ classes to make it easier to find people from the same year. Public stories are also viewable within the list. There is also access to direct messaging members in the list. Instagram has to develop this further though to make sure creeps don’t make it in. CNBC says one of its reporters got invited to join the community for their alma mater as a current student. Instagram assures that the feature is in its early phases and tools to report inappropriate usage are in place.