examples of instagram editing and posts

Instagram Now Allows More Than Just Squares!

Instagram is presently one of the most interest yet frustrating Social Media platforms. On one side, it’s shown continuous growth and great engagement levels, and unlike with others (I’m looking at you, Facebook!) your reach is not budget-dependent as it allows for great content to rise organically. On the other hand, it has severe limitations for Social Media Managers, but things are improving…

Today, Instagram announced on their blog that they are getting rid of one of said limitations: the ability to post pictures and videos in different sizes. With this new update, you no longer have to crop your pictures into a square or add borders to fill the size with apps like InstaSize, and you don’t have to cut out the sides of your videos. Now, users will be able to select portrait or landscape modes instead of square, offering a bit of leeway that those of us constantly posting content to the platform are sure to appreciate.

As they explain in their blog post, this won’t affect the look of your feed. The move will also mean filters and other settings like intensity will be unified as one experience even when posting a video:

Now, when choosing a photo or video, you can tap the format icon to adjust the orientation to portrait or landscape instead of square. Once you share the photo, the full-sized version of it will appear to all of your followers in feed in a beautiful, natural way. To keep the clean feel of your profile grid, your post will appear there as a center-cropped square.

We’re especially excited about what this update means for video on Instagram, which in widescreen can be more cinematic than ever. While we’ve historically had separate filters for photos and for videos, all filters will now work on all types of moments. You can also adjust the intensity of filters on videos, too.

Ever since being acquired by Facebook in April of 2012, one of the focuses has been to keep the essence and community that made the platform thrive. While that is a commendable goal, it makes it hard for Community Managers in many senses: no ability to post from the web, no Analytics, no post scheduling capabilities, no ability to post different picture sizes, etc. Now they have gotten rid of one of those obstacles, and continue to show that they are making the right moves, such as with the release of an improved web version that includes search functionality.

Maybe one day Community Managers will be able to celebrate the introduction of some sort of post-scheduling system or accesss to Analytics, but until then at least we get to celebrate the end of “the tyranny of the squares”!

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Ignacio Cassinelli
nacho.cassinelli@acmconnect.com