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Instagram will now let you follow hashtags in addition to individuals. The change, announced through the Instagram blog, comes about a month after initial reports surfaced that Instagram was ‘testing’ the feature with small groups of users.
As Instagram explains in its blog post, this is all about ‘enhancing’ discovery:
Every day, millions of people share photos and videos and tag them with relevant hashtags. #onthetable, #slime and #floralnails are just a few examples of hashtags that represent the many interests and passions of our community. To make these posts even more discoverable, we’re introducing hashtags you can follow.
Hashtags can be followed by clicking the big blue ‘Follow’ button on the hashtag’s landing page. Once you’ve followed a tag, top photos and stories from that tag will begin appearing in your newsfeed and stories queue up top.
One More Thing
The ability to follow hashtags began as a test back in early November, and Instagram just launched another feature test that seems likely to make it to prime time very soon. The Verge reports that Instagram is testing a ‘Recommended for You’ feature that will add posts to your news feed that it believes you will like.
These might include photos people you follow have liked, or images Instagram’s controversial algorithm believes you would enjoy based on your activity.
Instagram confirmed that the feature was being tested in a statement to the The Verge, who is also reporting that users can hide the Recommended for You section… at least for now.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)