Ah, Instagram. Ever since its release in 2012, the social media app has pretty much changed human interaction as we know it. Currently available in 32 languages, the platform has been everything from a casual posting diary in the early ‘10s to becoming a hub for influencers with the rise of Stories and Explore pages. And now, the app has introduced yet another feature to compete with other social media: Notes, a 60-character message that, well, people haven’t been loving.
On the heels of accusations that Instagram has been copying other social media — with the release of Stories and temporary pictures in the DMs, both familiar to Snapchat’s concept — this new update is trying out a few things that’s giving users of other social media apps deja vu.
This includes Candid, which is based on the idea of sharing Stories at a random time of the day with a picture from the front and rear camera. An obvious rival to BeReal, the idea was first criticized when tried out by the company earlier this year, that time under the name of Candid Challenge. “Instagram’s new CANDID feature…. no prizes for guessing the #inspo behind that one,” tweeted one user.
Instagram also introduced other features like collaborative collections and Group Profiles, in which posts and Stories can be shared with group members and are posted to that account. Still, the most out-there addition has been Instagram Notes, displayed on the user’s inbox for 24 hours for mutuals or close friends.
Instagram revealed in a statement that during testing, “we learned that people liked having a lightweight, easy way to share what’s on their mind and start conversations.” So Notes came up as a way to “give people a casual and spontaneous way to express themselves and connect with each other.”
Very similar to Twitter, the feature has been suffering backlash on pretty much every social media, including, ironically, the platform itself.
“I love how everyone is collectively confused at Instagram’s new notes update,” wrote one Twitter user, while others added that it’s just a new way to slide into someone’s DMs. Some said that the update came unprovoked, as requested features like posts in chronological order and fewer ads were still ignored by the company. Even comparisons to Nickelodeon’s Victorious were drawn: “Instagram DM notes is giving Victorious Pear Pod Updates.”
TikTok users’ reaction has been pretty similar, except much more meme-y: “Is this who we are? Is this who we represent?” captioned one user in a viral video, commenting on the out of pocket Notes some have been leaving.
One thing is for sure, though: those 60-characters have been giving people much to talk about.