Instagram’s search just got a lot more like Twitter.
The company’s latest update completely overhauled the app’s search and Explore features to make it easier to find posts around specific events, places or themes in real time.
The new Explore menu is a major departure from previous versions of the feature, which surfaced photos and videos solely based on users you followed and posts you liked in the past.
The app now takes a much more Twitter-like approach by surfacing posts based on tags and locations currently trending on the platform.
Instagram says that because its algorithms are able to identify posts as they begin to trend, the new feature will be particularly useful to newsrooms and other organizations looking to stay on top of the latest trends.
“The new Explore now surfaces trends as they emerge in real-time, connecting you to events and conversations both near you and around the globe,” the company wrote on its blog.
The new Explore also includes a section for curated collections of posts from various communities within Instagram. The section, meant to highlight interesting posts users may not otherwise see in their normal feeds, will be updated twice a week with new themes collections like “extreme athletes,” “beautiful bridges” or “ancient ruins.”
Those who liked the personalized recommendations offered by previous versions of Explore will still be able to browse their more targeted suggestions via the “explore posts” section of the Explore menu.
Tuesday’s update also overhauled the app’s search features, which now allow users to search for photos and videos posted from specific locations. Searches for specific locations will turn up results for both the most recent and top posts tagged with that location. The new search menu also makes it easier to narrow down searches by allowing you to sort results by people, places and tags.
There are more than 70 million photos and videos posted to Instagram each day, according to the company, which makes it increasingly important for the service to provide its 200+ millionusers with ways to find fresh, relevant, content.
Instagram’s updated iOS and Android apps are available now. The new Explore features will only be available in the U.S to start, though Instagram says it will bring the update to more countries as it works to “fine tune the experience.” The improvements to Instagram’s search are available now to all the app’s users.
Source: Mashable