Instagram News & Updates

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Indians on Instagram are mostly young, mobile-first users with high spending power, according to an Instagram study that revealed insights for the first time about the community connected to one of the fastest growing social platforms, and what keeps them engaged.

Instagram also said its monthly actives in India have more than doubled over the past year (as of September 2015). Instagram continues to build momentum and has grown to more than 400 million users this year. Among the last 100 million to join Instagram, more than half live in Asia and Europe.

Indians on Instagram are mobile-first with more than 80 per cent using their phone to take pictures to post on social media with the age group of 18-24 years the most active on Instagram, said the study.

“Over 50 per cent of Indian Instagrammers have frequently purchased products and services from the brands they follow. They also follow brands to keep in touch with the latest products, learn about deals and shop for products online,” said the study.

- See more at:

http://www.exchange4media.mobi/digital/indian-instagram-users-doubled-in-past-one-yearfacebook_62394.html
 
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Popular photo and video sharing app Instagram has now updated its Android app to introduce a 3D Touch-like feature in version 7.13.0. In short, this looks like a “glorified” long press menu. The update is now available via the Google Play Store. For users who haven’t received the update yet and want to try the new feature can download APK file from here.


Android Police demoed the functionality of the new feature in the video below. In its experience, it stated that even though it is called long press, it takes barely any time to display the pop up. To use the new Touch feature, users need to long press on an image thumbnail to zoom in on it. Dragging the finger away from the center of the image will shrink it back down to thumbnail size and moving over one of the buttons under the picture allows users to like or share it without having to lift their finger.

Apart from this new feature rolling out, the company is also currently testing support for multiple accounts through its Android app. However, this features seems to be working only for a selected few. There is no news as to when this feature will roll out for iOS users. This turns out to be a great addition for social media managers and also, business owners who use multiple accounts on a daily basis for work and promotion.

4k Instagram
 
While most marketers in the world are blinded by the sparkle of Facebook, the social media giant's sister platform Instagram, a company it acquired in 2012 for $1.3 billion, has been slowly but steadily making a name for itself among users and brands. 

Late last year, Facebook reported that the video and photo sharing platform now has more than 400 million users across the world. A survey by market researcher Neilsen stated that monthly active users of Instagram have doubled in one year in the country as of September 2015. Another study by consultancy selfstartr, meanwhile, observed that where Facebook's potential organic reach to adults has decreased 60 per cent since 2012, Instagrams’ has increased by 200 per cent.

Looking at these statistics, it has always been a bit of a surprise that Facebook has not looked at monetizing Instagram much earlier. The Facebook-acquired platform first unveiled its ads product back in November of 2013, and has been rolling out ads slowly to eight countries since. However, Facebook supremo Mark Zuckerberg has always been protective about the platform and has repeatedly mentioned about the need to take things slow with Instagram.

Well, as of last year, Instagram finally opened up its doors to advertisers in 30 countries, including India. This announcement, made in September, came on the heels of it being announced that the Instagram ads API would be opened up for advertisers. 

Since then advertiser interest for Instagram has soared. As one digital Head pointed out, CPM for Instagram ads have jumped more than 20-30 per cent since September 2015. 
"We have seen big brands, which only do performance advertising, agreeing to have a brand campaign run on Instagram," he added. 

So why does Instagram manage to comfort and excite advertisers?

[http://www]One reason could be because of the sharp and harmonious relationship that exists between Instagram and Facebook. As Gautamm Mehra, VP and Head (Social Media) for iProspect India, points out, "One thing they (Facebook) has been very smart about is making the whole process of advertising on Instagram very simple. You can buy Instagram ads directly from the Facebook console. Facebook native ads are also adjusted to run on Instagram." Instagram also makes use of Facebook's trusted targeting system, which is an added bonus in the eyes of the advertiser.

This is not to say that Instagram's fortunes are intertwined with Facebook's. Digital agency Heads we spoke with were clear that interest on Instagram-only campaigns has been growing since last year and is only expected to increase in 2016.

[http://www]"Instagram as a platform benefits brands with integrated management and extended mobile supply. Brands such as Paper Boat and Universal Music India have tailored content for Instagram and leverage Instagram advertising as a means of increasing outreach for it. The potential for Instagram advertising is huge as it breaks the clutter from brand induced advertising and focuses upon interesting stories through visual content," says Zafar Rais, CEO of Mindshift Interactive.

Then there is also the not so small question of the quality of audience. The Neilsen research that we quoted from earlier, for example, says that the average Instagram user is from a higher income background (79 per cent from NCCS A&B households). The report further states that 37 per cent users have more than one car, while 25 per cent (compared to the Indian average of 5 per cent) are postpaid customers. The average price of their headphones is Rs 17,000, as compared to the Indian average of Rs 13,200. Even more interestingly, Neilsen determined that online shopping was a major reason why Instagram users followed brands. 

[http://www]"(Instagram) more for aspirational users. They are more affluent and have a higher propensity to spend. The quality of replies that you get on Instagram also tend to be better than Facebook. It is less 'massy' so you can have more intelligent conversations," opined Pratik Gupta, Co-founder of Foxymoron. 

Explaining this point further, Mehra adds, "They (brands) now have access to an audience that they earlier could not reach out to." This explains why the brand in the earlier example agreed to carry out a brand campaign on Instagram. For brands targeting the spending audience, Instagram seems tailormade.

- See more at:

http://www.exchange4media.mobi/digital/is-2016-the-year-of-instagram_62995.html
 
Instagram has confirmed that is testing a new account switching feature on some iOS users.

The feature allows users to quickly and easily change between accounts within the app, rather than going through the lengthy process of signing out and then logging back in again.

The news emerged after some users noticed that the button had unexpectedly appeared in their apps, but now Instagram has confirmed the test, telling TechCrunch: "We are always testing new features within our community."

A lot of Instagram users have no use for this feature, but it's one of the most commonly-requested, especially by people who have personal, less 'polished' accounts that only friends can see, and by people who work with social media and run a number of accounts.

As usual with tests like these, Instagram hasn't said when or if the feature will be released to the public.

But Instagram has seen some big changes recently (longer ads, different-sized pictures), so it might not be long until account switching gets rolled out to everyone.

http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/instagram-is-testing-a-new-feature/50879716
 
If you want to relish food, just hit the photo-sharing website Instagram and browse through the images posted by people of various cuisines and you will begin licking your fingers like never before.

According to the researchers from the University of San Diego in California and Saint Joseph’s University, people who have seen photos of dishes on Instagram perceive the food to be tastier than those who did not scan such images.

In an experiment involving over 120 participants, the team told them to enjoy a mouth-watering red velvet cake and asked them to either click a photo first and post in on Instagram before gulping it down or just eat it immediately, New York Magazine reported.

The findings showed that those who clicked a photo of the red velvet cake perceived it to be tastier than those who just consumed it.

According to Sean Coary from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and Morgan Poor from the University of San Diego in California, no difference was noted for the healthier food like fruit salad as its taste remained unchanged both for those who posted its image of Instagram and those who did not.

The results, published in the Journal of Consumer Marketing, showed that only foods deemed as indulgent will have that perceived taste effect and not the healthy diets.

“It provides insight into the effects of consumers taking pictures of their food before consumption, a growing trend on social media sites (Instagram). Marketing managers can develop strategies to encourage their consumers to take pictures of their food,” the authors noted.

This is the first research to demonstrate the effects of consumer-generated images on a product consumption experience and identify the conditions and process under which these effects occur.

According to media reports, there are more than 178 million photos tagged #food on Instagram and 56 million tagged #foodporn.

'Food p**n' on Instagram can make you taste meal better Tech2 Mobile
 
A visual medium that attracts the attention of even the most social media obtuse people with stunning pictures, Instagram is rather easy to navigate. However, if you plan to increase your followers on the photo-sharing site, you can't not benefit by following Instagram etiquette. We spoke to Pankaj Rahul Singh, director and COO at TSD Corp--a digital identity management company that handles the social media interaction of your favourite cricketers like MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and IPL teams like Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab.

Here are the seven tips you can consider to ace the medium, because honestly, no one likes to follow that jerk who overdoses on hashtags.

1. Posting a #ThrowbackThursday photo

You can't share a picture from a bash held last week as a #tbt picture. "#ThrowbackThursday has evolved into a weekly photography upload game that does have some sort of strict rules. The idea of a 'throwback' relates to an ode to your past. A photo from a year ago may be acceptable for the more lenient Instagram watchers, but when it comes to #tbt, the older the photo, the better," suggests Pankaj. This essentially means baby photos, your graduation image or the dreadful saree you wore to the farewell are a big thumbs-up.

2. Sharing only selfies, all the freaking time

No one wants to see their feed bombarded with multiple posts of your face, so cut down on the selfies, unless of course you are a makeup enthusiast and your face is where all the action happens.

3. Don't use a difficult username

"As Instagram's search function isn't as efficient as other websites, a simple username will ensure that people are able to easily find and follow you," he says.

4. Don't overuse or misuse hashtags

"Hashtags are very important on Instagram and should be used on every post to increase reach. Choose 5-7 hashtags instead of 7-10 to include in the caption," he adds. Since the function of a hashtag is merely to help search relevant pictures on the medium, adding useless hashtags is pointless.
Use this:
#incredibleindia #fort #mandu #history #travel #holiday
Instead of this:
#iwokeuplikethis #beauty #bliss #holiday #nofilter #nikonphotography #iconindiatours #incredibleindia #travel #traveling #TagsForLikes #TFLers #vacation #visiting #instatravel #instago #instagood #trip #holiday #photooftheday #fun #travelling #tourism #tourist #instapassport #instatraveling #mytravelgram #travelgram #travelingram #igtravel

5. Don't overlook your followers' comments

"If people are taking the time to comment on your posts or ask questions, do not ignore them, as it will impact your relationship with the audience," says Pankaj. Be it information about the filter you used to the name of a lipstick you are wearing, be responsive and interactive on the medium.

6. Don't snip other Instagram user's content

Or in other words, don't do what both Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner have done, and appropriate someone else's work as your own. "Just because you like someone else's photo doesn't mean you can post it as your own. There are some third-party apps that will allow you to re-post another user's post while giving proper attribution to the original user," adds Pankaj.

7. Don't follow everyone who follows you

"Don't feel obligated to follow someone just because they followed you, and don't buy followers in order to increase the reach of your page," he suggests. It's okay to pick and choose, depending upon the kind of content you want to see on your newsfeed.

http://m.indiatoday.in/story/celebr...am-etiquette-get-more-followers/1/617614.html
 
Facebook-owned Instagram has now started showing notifications on its website. The notifications tab will alert each time you get a new follower and also when a friend joins Instagram. The move comes across interesting as Instagram usually keeps its features restricted to the mobile app.

First tipped off by Rob Poitras, a report by VentureBeat confirms that Instagram has already started rolling out the new update and its live for all. Looks like, Facebook has realised, in its bid to go all mobile, it may miss out on some desktop users. It should be noted that last year Facebook-owned WhatsApp launched on Web, and the company also introduced a dedicated site for messenger.com.

This new move comes soon after Instagram announced to offer a more personalised feed for its users. The company is using machine-learning technology, as well as other signals of interest, to determine how to sort content that you would be interested in, instead of its reverse chronological method. Instagram stated on its blog , the order of photos and videos in your feed will be based on the likelihood you’ll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post. Instagram’s this decision has already started facing public ire.

Instagram brings notifications tab for web users Tech2 Mobile
 
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