Instagram is rolling out a new feature dubbed as ‘Guides’ that lets users discover recommendations and other content from their favourite creators or public figures. Guides is essentially a tab within a user’s profile where they can create article-like updates from old posts and videos including IGTV videos with small captions and headers to highlight a specific topic. At the moment, the Facebook-owned social media platform is focusing Guides on wellness content amid the coronavirus pandemic, therefore, the feature is available to use by a very specific group of wellness influencers. Instagram added that the guides will start to appear in the Explore tab in the coming days.
Where is ‘Guides’ available and what does it do?
Currently, Instagram’s ‘Guides’ feature is available to limited wellness influencers such as Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone), Sudahdong NGO (@SudahDong), Klicksafe (@klicksafe), and Eenfance NGO (@eenfance).
The feature has been rolled out on both the Android and iOS version of the app and users in India can also view it. However, the ‘Guides’ tab is not added to the Web version of Instagram.
You can find the Guides icon next to the IGTV or Posts icon on the aforementioned users’ profiles. Once you click on the icon, you can see multiple Guides-posts highlighting a specific topic, in this case, topics related to health and wellness. After clicking the Guides-post, you can see a variety of photos and videos with captions that the user has curated. If you click on any a specific photo or video, you will be redirected to the original post published by the user.
The announcement about the development was made via a blog post published on Monday. Instagram explained that the initial rollout is limited to wellness influencers as the platform wants to focus on health issues amid coronavirus pandemic.
“We know many people are struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so we are first focusing Guides on wellness content. We’ll enable creators to connect with expert organizations to share resources during this time, including tips on how to look after your well-being, maintaining connection with others or managing anxiety or grief.”
The company also announced that users will be able to see ‘Guides’ within the Explore tab in the coming days. It has not, at this point, given any details on when general users will be able to use the Guide feature or if it will be expanded to more areas of interest, although both seem likely for the future.
