Instagram has started rolling out new web profiles for its 100+ million users today. Like a Facebook account page, you can view all of the photos and info from a specific Instagram user at a dedicated web URL, i.e., instagram.com/username.
Instead of only being able to view an account in its entirety in the native Instagram app, you can now browse and follow other users on the desktop by clicking shared photo links you see on Twitter and Facebook.
From the Instagram blog:
You’ve asked for Instagram on the web and we’ve listened. Over the next few days, we’ll be rolling out Instagram profiles on the web!
Your web profile features a selection of your recently shared photographs just above your profile photo and bio, giving others a snapshot of the photos you share on Instagram. In addition, you can follow users, comment & like photos and edit your profile easily and directly from the web. It’s a beautiful new way to share your Instagram photos!
You can’t upload photos to the new web interface, as Instagram is still prioritizing its mobile experience. The new web profiles are merely a complimentary way of browsing pics when you’re not in the app. The Photo Map feature that was recently introduced on iOS and Android isn’t available on the web either.
If your account has been updated with a web profile, you’ll be able to see the new layout by visiting instagram.com/username in a browser. Instagram notes that all of its users should have the new layout in the next “week or so.”
It comes as no surprise that Instagram’s web profile design looks a whole lot like Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg’s social network behemoth bought Instagram for nearly $1 billion a few months ago.
Source: Instagram Blog
