Instagram updates 2024: Key features and enhanced safety for teens

With over 229 million users in India alone, Instagram remains a key platform for conversations around music, movies, trends, and brand interactions. As the platform continues to grow globally, 2024 has seen Instagram introduce significant updates to enhance user experience and engagement, reinforcing its place in the competitive social media landscape.

This year, Instagram focused on refining its core features, such as carousels, which now allow users to tag collaborators and creators directly. It also expanded music-based interactions across all content formats, further strengthening its multimedia approach. The Stories and Direct Messages (DM) sections received continued updates aimed at improving user safety and streamlining communication.

A major development came with Instagram’s integration of generative AI. The platform introduced AI-powered tools, such as personalised content recommendations and AI-assisted caption suggestions, helping creators and brands produce more dynamic and engaging posts. These updates also benefited marketers, providing them with AI-powered tools for campaign optimisation and audience insights.

Instagram also launched the AI-powered video editing tool, Movie Gen, enabling users to modify video elements using text commands. Additionally, the platform introduced a year-end collage feature for Stories, allowing users to compile their favourite moments from 2024. A new feature to schedule direct messages was also added, enhancing communication planning.

Let us take a look at all the updates and announcements this year.

January 2024

• Instagram experimented with a public ‘Collections’ feature, allowing users to showcase posts on their profiles to highlight interests like celebrities or books.
• The platform introduced stricter safety measures for teens, removing self-harm content from their feeds, Stories, and Explore. It will redirect users searching for sensitive terms to help services. All teen users are now automatically set to the strictest content settings, limiting exposure to harmful material.
• Introduced night-time nudges to encourage teens to turn off their phones after using the app for over 10 minutes late at night. The reminder, which appears in areas like Reels and Direct Messages, aims to promote healthy sleep habits by encouraging users to close the app.
•  Instagram introduced new default DM restrictions for teen users, limiting messages to only those they follow. Teens could opt out, but those with Family Center connections needed parental approval to change settings. The platform also began experimenting with image restrictions to protect teens from inappropriate content in DMs.
• Allowed users to create custom stickers from still image posts. By selecting ‘Create a cutout sticker’  in the three dots menu, users could isolate elements from a post to use in Stories and Reels. The feature was limited to public posts with permission for cutouts, and stickers were lost if the original post was deleted.
• The platform started testing new group chat conversation starters in Notes to boost engagement.
• Started testing its new ‘Flipside’ alternative profile option, offering users a private space to share posts with selected connections. It aims to provide a more personalised sharing experience as part of Instagram’s shift towards smaller, more intimate engagement communities.
• Rolled out an option to turn off read receipts for DMs, letting users control when ‘Read’ and ‘Seen’ indicators appear. This update offers more privacy and helps manage expectations in personal and brand interactions.
• Instagram launched a live test of its ‘Flipside’ alternative profile space, offering users a more private engagement option.

February 2024

• Started testing a new option allowing users to preview feed post placement before publishing.
• The platform added a video cutout option, allowing users to create animated stickers from any video clip posted in the app.
• Started testing new limits on the number of hashtags users can add to posts.
• Started testing carousel posts within the Reels stream, allowing multiple videos and images in a single post.
• Meta rolled out its new ‘Meta Verified’ comment filter on Instagram, prioritising engagement from verified users.
• The platform added a new DM filter for creators, allowing them to view messages only from profiles they follow.
• Started testing options to create alternate image backgrounds and facilitate in-stream orders.
• Started testing live-stream games to enhance engagement, allowing broadcasters to play games with viewers in-stream.
• Experimented with a new ‘Friend Map’ live location display, facilitating real life connections and offering potential for marketers with physical locations.
• Added safety alerts to raise scam awareness, including warnings when suspicious profiles request connections.

March 2024

• The platform launched new DM features, including message editing within 15 minutes, pinned chats, read receipts control, custom chat themes, and a sticker tray for saving favourite stickers. These updates enhance personal engagement and private sharing.
• Tested a new ‘Spins’ feature for Reels, allowing users to remix videos with alternate audio and text elements. 
• Tested new features allowing users to add files to DMs, expanding messaging options.
• Tested an expanded carousel post option, allowing up to 15 images in a single upload for more context and flexibility.
• Launched ‘Ads with Promo Codes‘ globally, offering brands a new way to drive purchase activity through their ads.
• Started testing 3-minute Reels uploads, expanding its video length options to boost user engagement.
• Updated the hashtag search, linking users to broader results rather than just the ‘Top Posts’ feed for better discovery.
• Tested the ability to comment on specific frames within a carousel post by tagging the image number in your reply.
• Tested ‘Blend,‘ a new feature combining Reels shared with a friend into a private feed for more personal engagement.
• Introduced the ‘Notify’ sticker for creators, helping them alert their audience when new content is posted.
• Confirmed the launch of profile Notes, allowing users to share updates and spark engagement by leaving Notes on friends’ profiles.
• Rolled out features to protect teens from sextortion scams, including blurring DMs likely to contain nude images detected by its systems.
• Introduced  ‘Frames’ Story sticker that turns photos into Polaroids, as part of its Coachella 2024 activation.

April 2024

• The platform added new features to creator subscriptions, offering insights, anti-screenshot tools, and more to help creators monetise their content effectively.
• Updated its feed algorithm to prioritise original content and emerging creators, giving smaller accounts more visibility.

May 2024

• Started testing the ‘Clear Mode’ for Reels, allowing users to hide descriptions and UI buttons for a cleaner viewing experience.
• Introduced four new interactive stickers, including the ‘Add Yours Music’ sticker, allowing users to respond to Stories with a song. Additionally, a Polaroid-style Frames sticker has been added to transform photos into vintage-style images.
• Expanded its Creator Marketplace to ten more regions, including several EU countries, enabling brands to search for creator collaborators based on audience size, location, and topics to better amplify their messaging.
• Started developing a new feature called ‘Peek,’ which would allow users to quickly capture and send unedited, unfiltered snaps to friends. These one-take images can be viewed once before disappearing, aiming to spark more authentic, spontaneous interaction.
•  Launched a new interview series featuring top creators discussing their experiences and challenges on the platform with Instagram’s development leaders, offering valuable insights for refining your IG strategy.
• Started testing adding ‘Notes’ to feed posts and Reels, expanding its conversation-starting features.
• Started testing ‘Recent Stories’ highlights on user profiles, aiming to enhance engagement by showcasing more content in key areas like DMs, Reels, and Stories.
• Instagram tested meme stickers in Reels, allowing users to add trending animated elements to their clips for more interactive content.
• Expanded its ‘Limits’ feature to protect teens, allowing them to restrict interactions with abusive users, a move initially aimed at safeguarding UK soccer players.
• Launched ‘Notes Prompts’ to spark conversations with templated queries, expanding the functionality of its in-stream Notes feature, especially popular among younger users.

June 2024

• Tested video ads that prevent users from scrolling until the ad is finished, aiming to increase engagement and ad effectiveness.
• Added new feature to Broadcast Channels, including IG Live for members, custom themes, emoji restrictions, and QR codes for easier promotion.
• Tested text overlays and image formatting within Carousel posts, allowing creators to add text to individual images and reformat their display.
• The platform tested audience feedback for unpublished Reels, allowing creators to share draft clips with friends and select non-followers for input before posting.
• Experimented with virtual pets for Stories, allowing users to adopt and interact with digital animals within the app.
• Tested new overlaid ads on user Stories, driving viewers towards promoted apps with a CTA button.
• Tested AI bots that allow creators to build digital versions of themselves to manage tasks like responding to fan comments.
• Tested ‘Creator Insights’ feature on profiles, offering brands a snapshot of creators’ performance, including follower growth and other analytics.
• Launched updates to allow creators, to host live streams exclusively for their close friends, providing a more intimate way to engage with select followers.
• Enabled users to add music to carousel posts that feature video clips, enhancing engagement with audio content.
• Tested chat widgets to enhance DM engagement, featuring tools like countdowns, timezone displays, and pinned content for more interactive conversations.

July 2024

• Updated AI labels, shifting from ‘Made with AI’ to ‘AI Info,’ aiming for clearer identification of AI-generated content.
• Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri emphasised that the platform will prioritise content that encouraged users to share posts via DMs.
• Tested features that would allow users to add collaborators to their feed posts and Stories after publishing, similar to the existing option for Reels.
• Restricted the promotion of carousels with variable image sizes, making full-screen size images ineligible for boosting.
• Introduced a new feature allowing users to add up to 20 audio tracks to their Reels, enabling multiple soundtrack elements within a single clip.

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• Tested ‘Super Like’ feature for Stories, which allowed users to show extra enthusiasm with a once-daily option that enhanced engagement.
• Expanded Notes to Reels and feed posts, enabling users to share thoughts directly on their content for broader engagement.
• Tested making the messaging icon the main focus, aiming to streamline user interactions and enhance in-app communication.

August 2024

• Tested updated metrics to focus creators on views, refining insights to prioritise content performance and audience engagement.
• Tested screenshot blocking for temporary DMs in Vanish Mode and ‘View Once’ settings, aiming to enhance privacy and safety for users.
• Expanded the Carousel feature to allow up to 20 frames, offering users greater creative flexibility.
• Tested a live version of the ‘Friend Map’ feature, allowing users to share tagged locations and notes exclusively with close connections, similar to Snap Map.
• Tested a vertical grid format for profiles, replacing traditional square thumbnails with rectangular panels to better align with video-centric content.
• Tested new profile cards for creators, offering a way to highlight profiles and showcase content.

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• Tested the option to tag Channels during post uploads, enhancing ways to highlight content and boost engagement.
• Tested a feature allowing users to add a favourite song to their profiles, offering a nostalgic nod to MySpace’s music highlights, minus autoplay.
• Introduced cross-posting to Threads, allowing users to amplify their posts across both platforms with ease.
• Expanded creative options with new text and sticker features, enhancing user customisation in posts.
• Tested Spotify integration, allowing users to share music directly through IG Notes.
• Tested a new ‘Collages’ feature, automatically creating custom collages from images in your Camera Roll for sharing in chats.
• Introduced comments on stories, allowing viewers to interact openly with content, enhancing engagement by displaying comments at the bottom of the screen.

September 2024

• Started allowing replies in Broadcast Channels, visible only by tapping specific messages.
• Instagram introduced new DM features, including drawing tools, stickers, and cut-outs, alongside birthday indicators and chat themes to boost engagement.
• Rolled out stricter protections for teens, including private accounts, restricted messaging, and time limits.
• Added new stickers and refreshes its ‘Emoji Pong’ game.
• Introduced its new signature sound, adding an audio identity to the app.

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October 2024

• Added a ‘Best Practices’ section in its Professional Dashboard, offering tips and insights for creators based on account performance.
• Tested a new WhatsApp sticker for Stories, enabling brands to prompt DM conversations by linking their WhatsApp Business number to their IG account.
• New profile cards were launched, featuring a QR code for quick connections, along with a profile overview, bio, and customisation options for easier sharing and engagement.
• Instagram tested a ‘Social Library’ to track all the posts, Reels, and content you’ve interacted with, making it easier to find and revisit shared media.
• Experimented with in-stream Reels performance tips to help creators understand why their clips are performing well.
• The 2024 ‘Creators of Tomorrow’ list was unveiled, spotlighting emerging creators across five categories, including ‘AI Accelerators’ and ‘Vibe Curators.’
• The platforms’ chief clarified that including your own brand’s logo on Reels won’t impact its reach, unlike watermarks from other apps like TikTok.

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• The platform unveiled Halloween-themed features, including keyword-triggered animations in DMs, Story templates, and a special Halloween font.
• Adam Mosseri says, the platform reduced video quality for less-viewed Stories and Reels, prioritising popular content, which may affect smaller creators’ engagement.

November 2024

• DM filters introduced, to help creators manage their messages more effectively, streamlining their communication.
• The platform tested an AI profile picture generator, allowing users to create stylised, artistic depictions of themselves directly from their profile settings.
• Mosseri confirmed Instagram doesn’t downrank sponsored content, debunking the myth that it forces brands to pay for more reach.

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• The option to follow hashtags is removed, to reduce spam and improve feed relevance.
• The platform announces that inactive profiles can now be easily removed from the followers list to improve engagement metrics and ad targeting.
• Story Highlights moved to their own tab within the profile, streamlining the display and aiming for a cleaner look.
• More DM filter options are developed for creators to help manage requests, prioritising important messages and reducing spam.
• The platform started testing AI-powered tools for creating profile images and stickers, offering users an easy way to generate custom visuals.
• Instagram started allowing users to reset their in-stream recommendations, offering more control over content visibility
• The platform started testing new placement for the DM button in the main UI to improve accessibility.
• Added 17 new sticker packs, an updated sticker UI, and location sharing to DMs, aiming to boost engagement during the holiday season.
• Launched a new ‘Collage‘ option for Stories, allowing users to create more dynamic and creative posts.

December 2024

• Launched a new ‘Trial‘ feature for Reels, allowing creators to share their content with a selected audience of non-followers to gauge its potential reach.
• Started testing options to hide view counts on Reels and replies on Threads, giving users more control over how their metrics appear on the platform.
• Started testing DM scheduling feature, allowing users to compose a message and schedule its delivery by long-pressing the send button, currently available to some Android users.
• The platform rolled out holiday features, including ‘Collages’ for Stories, seasonal templates, festive fonts, and new chat themes.
• Instagram implemented screenshot blocking for view-once media to protect privacy.
• The platform previews upcoming AI video features to enhance content creation.

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