Instagram has expanded well beyond its humble beginnings as maybe the most photo-driven of thebest social media apps. With features ranging from live streaming to video looping, the Meta-owned platform is continuing to introduce new ways for users to engage with their followers. However, it hasn’t always been easy for people to collaborate on content across the app beyond sharing. To bridge the gap, Instagram is now rolling out Collabs, allowing up to four users to team up on a shared Carousel, Reel, or Post.
Instagram users can nowinvite up to three other peopleto co-author these types of content. Even those with a private account — a profile cannot be viewed without friend request acceptance — can invite others to co-author content, so long as they are friends with the invitee on the platform. Once the Reel, Post, or Carousel has been uploaded, it is shared with each author’s followers and appears on their individual profiles.
Music is also a large component of the Collabs rollout. Since Instagram launched Reels back in 2020, users have been able to select audio from its music library to accompany the content. Uponintroducing the same feature to Stories back in 2018, Instagram noted that its library is comprised of thousands of songs. Now, users can add music to their Carousels, and Instagram will be expanding its music library to more countries within the next few weeks. Furthermore, Spotify will be teaming up with Instagram in Mexico and Brazil to launch a new feature called Reels Music Chart on its platform. Here, Spotify users can listen to the 50 most popular songs used in Instagram Reels.
Influencers, however, may reap the most benefits from Collabs. Rather than simply posting content for followers to view, they can now create interactive Reels by using an Add Yours sticker. This allows followers to engage with prompts and challenges posted by influencers, who can choose to highlight them. Upon being selected, the follower’s Reel can then be viewed by other Instagram users, assuming their account is marked as public.
