After much hype, Instagram finally launches Instagram Stories Link Sticker and made it available to all its users. This new feature is accessible to everyone, not just users with more than 10,000 followers. In the past, only users with over 10,000 followers can use the swipe-up option. Now, Instagram is ditching the swipe-up feature to replace it with the Link Stickers.

This option is a much-welcomed feature, especially for small businesses with less than 10k followers. Small businesses can now directly link their product pages and get more sales, while content creators can now drive more traffic on their websites and increase their web visits.

“Collab” allows users to collaborate on feed posts and Reels. Users can now send collaboration invites to other Instagram users, and create mutual feed posts and reels. The posts will appear on the grids/ Reels of both users and will share the same view and like count and comment thread. 

We first heard about the “Collab” option from Instagram VP Vishal Shah back in July 2021. However, we did not get a release date confirmation until Oct 19, 2021, when Shash posted the official release date on his Twitter account.

Uploading multiple photos in a Carousel is cool– until we accidentally add one or two wrong pictures to the group. Instagram now gives creators the option to delete one or two photos from your Carousel without having to delete the entire post.

Just follow these steps:

• Select the Carousel post you want to modify
• Tap on the top-right dots icon and select Edit
• Scroll through the photos and look for the picture you want to delete
• Select the top-left delete icon

If you accidentally deleted the wrong photo, do not worry. You have 30 days chance to restore the deleted picture by going to Settings > Account > Recently deleted.

During a live video, viewers can click an icon, and purchase badges to support the creator. After buying the badges, heart(s) will get displayed next to the viewer’s username, who purchased them.

Viewers can buy multiple badges ranging from $0.99, $1.99, and $4.99. Creators can also track the badges count through the Personal Dashboard after the live ends.

For eligible users, just go to your Professional Dashboard within the Instagram app and select “Set up Badges.” If you are not eligible yet, you can tap “Apply for Monetization” and wait for Instagram to approve your request.

Once you get access to the badges, you can turn the badges on by tapping the left-hand option Badges before starting your Instagram live.

However, Badges are only available for eligible creators in the U.S. Badges for creators from countries like the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Japan, Australia, Turkey, Brazil, and Mexico is currently invite-only.

Link Stickers now allow you to customize the link label text. This option appears as ‘Customize sticker text’ and will let you customize your call-to-action.

If you need tips on getting powerful call-to-action phrases, make sure to check out our article in creating effective CTAs on Instagram.

Users will now have more control over the content type they will see on Instagram. In December 2021, Instagram said they are experimenting with “Favorites,” a new option that lets users control whose posts they want to see more.

Aside from this option, the platform announced that they are also considering rolling out a feature to show posts in chronological order. It will be a general change in the Instagram algorithm since it gives users the power to control how they want to see the content on their feeds.