Acquired by Facebook in 2012 for what is now the bargain price of $1 billion, Instagram continues to be a flagship platform within the Meta portfolio and TechCrunch continues to cover its evolution. Instagram has recently shifted its focus toward Reels, its short-form video product that is strongly reminiscent of TikTok, and its latest offshoot platform Threads, which is the company’s X challenger that could also become the wider public’s introduction to the fediverse and federated social networks.
The fediverse — the name for the social network made of interconnected servers, like Mastodon and others — got another boost of legitimacy Tuesday as the @Potus (President of the…
Instagram is developing ‘Blend,’ recommended Reels for you and a friend
Instagram is developing a “Blend” feature that creates a private feed of Reels recommended for you and a friend. The company told TechCrunch on Friday that the feature is an…
TechCrunch Minute: You’re likely seeing less news and politics on Instagram. Here’s why
As the election cycle heats up, Instagram and Threads will be cooling down the amount of political content entering many users’ feeds. These changes, which limit the reach of political…
It’s election season in the U.S., and Instagram has changed the way that it recommends political content. On both Instagram and the newer X competitor Threads, this change won’t impact…
Threads opens beta to let users connect their accounts to the fediverse
Threads has officially entered the fediverse. Meta announced on Thursday that its beta experience of sharing Threads accounts to the fediverse is now open to users ages 18 and up…
Threads, the Twitter-like app from Instagram, is rolling out its “trending now” feature widely to all users in the U.S. The official rollout comes a month after the app started…
Instagram is working on a feature that would allow you to let others put a ‘Spin’ on your Reel
Instagram is working on a “Spins” feature for Reels, its short-form video TikTok clone, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The feature, which was first spotted by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi,…
After rivaling music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple music with TikTok Music, ByteDance might be looking at creating an Instagram competitor named TikTok Photos, code found in the TikTok…
Despite distancing itself from politics, the topic is dominating Threads’ trends
Meta’s newest app Threads, a would-be Twitter/X rival, may not want politics on its platform, but it’s coming to the app anyway — or so Threads’ search trends indicate. The…
Threads now lets all users save drafts and take photos within the app
Threads, the Twitter-like app from Instagram, is rolling out the ability for users to save a draft and take photos within the app. Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced the features…
Instagram has quietly added a secret emoji game that you can access in your DMs. The goal of the game is simple: Use your finger to move the paddle at…
Facebook, Instagram and Threads were all down in massive Meta outage on Super Tuesday
Reports are coming in that a number of Meta’s top social apps, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, are all experiencing an outage on Tuesday morning. When loading the apps or…
Google’s latest Pixel Drop will let users post high-quality photos, videos on Instagram
Google today announced its latest set of Pixel-related features for phones tablets, and watches, such as 10-bit video support for Instagram, expansion of the Circle to search feature, automatic workout…
Instagram announced today that it’s rolling out the ability for users to edit their direct messages for up to 15 minutes after sending them. The company also announced that users will…
Meta-owned social network Threads said today that it will make its API broadly available to developers by June. Engineer Jesse Chen posted that the company has been building the API…
Instagram is working on a ‘Friend Map’ feature that would let you track friends’ locations
Instagram is developing a “Friend Map” feature, a Meta spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday. The opt-in feature, which is similar to Snapchat’s Snap Map, would allow users to see…
Threads, the Twitter-like app from Instagram, is shaping up to look more like its competitor X with the recent launches of trending topics, an in-app camera, drafts, and as of…
Meta said Thursday that it has started to test two “most requested” features: drafts and in-app camera. Instagram head Adam Mosseri said that both features are available to only a…
Meta’s external advisory group, its Oversight Board, announced today that it is expanding its scope to Threads along with Facebook and Instagram to scrutinize Meta’s content moderation decisions. This means…
Instagram launches its marketplace to connect brands and creators in 8 new countries
Instagram said today that it is expanding its marketplace tool to connect brands with creators for paid partnerships or ads in eight new countries. The new markets that will get…
Yes, Threads is running a fact-checking program, but the system isn’t fully rolled out
Threads, Meta’s Twitter-like service and competitor to X, may be distancing itself from politics, but that doesn’t mean it won’t try to tackle the misinformation that spreads across social media…
In battle with X, Threads gets trending topics where politics will be allowed
After acknowledging last week that Meta’s X competitor Threads would not actively recommend political content, the company today announced a test of a new trends feature, “topics,” where such content…
Instagram and Threads will no longer ‘proactively’ recommend political content
Meta doesn’t want its new app Threads to become another Twitter, full of heated political debates and the resulting toxicity that entails. In an announcement today, the company detailed how…
Threads tests the ability to save posts as it continues to compete with X
Instagram Threads is getting a highly requested feature that puts it in closer competition with X/Twitter. The text-based social networking app is experimenting with the ability to save posts, allowing…
Oversight Board calls on Meta to rewrite ‘incoherent’ rules against faked videos
The Oversight Board, the external advisory group that Meta created to review its moderation decisions on Facebook and Instagram, issued a decision on Monday concerning a doctored seven-second video of…
Threads now reaches more than 130 million monthly users, says Meta, up 30M from Q3
Instagram Threads now has more than 130 million monthly active users, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings today. The text-based social networking app is one of…
Threads is working on surfacing Trends, says Instagram head Adam Mosseri
Instagram Threads will adopt another Twitter/X feature: Trends, the company has confirmed. In a reply to a user on the app, Instagram head Adam Mosseri noted that work on such…
Mark Zuckerberg says Apple and Google should manage parental consent for apps, not Meta
In today’s congressional online safety hearing, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg again pushed back at the idea that businesses like his should be responsible for managing parental consent systems for kids’…
Instagram Threads triples downloads in December, reaching the top 10; X falls to No. 36
Instagram Threads is gaining traction after growth stalled last year, which had some prematurely wondering if the app was already dead. New data indicates that’s not the case — in…
Instagram confirms test of ‘Flipside,’ a feature that turns ‘finstas’ into an official product
Instagram head Adam Mosseri confirmed the company is testing a feature called Flipside — an experiment that would essentially turn users’ “finstas” — their separate, private and more personal accounts…