Facebook is retooling Instagram to take some social pressure out of social media.
The photo-sharing app, which along with the iPhone sparked a revolution in instant photography, will reduce the pressure by making “likes” private so followers engage the content, not how popular it is. Instagram is also playing with ways to reduce the prominence of follower counts.
During Facebook’s F8 developer conference today, Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s vice president of content, said his team is testing new features that put “people first.”
Instagram also plans to add a Create Mode to Stories, allowing users to start a story without first uploading photos or video. The feature would also let users start an Instagram story with stickers or text. An artist could even solicit donations for a project with a special Donations sticker.
Instagram will also gain new tools to combat bullying, including a “nudge” from the company to dial back rude comments. Users going through difficult events will be able to activate a special “away” mode.
Instagram, which attracts 1 billion active users each month, is also rolling out additional shopping features. They will allow users to shop directly in the app and assign tags to products, such as clothing, rather than filling out an extended caption with hashtags and links.
