In 2017, Instagram launched a bookmarking feature called “collections,” which allows users to organize the posts they save into private groups for easier access. Now Instagram is introducing a new feature that allows users to create collections with their friends.
The social network told AapkaDost in an email that it is rolling out “collaborative collections,” a way for people to connect with friends about their shared interests by saving posts to a collaborative collection in their group chat or a one-on-one DM. In other words, you can now share messages with a friend or a group of friends and save them in a dedicated space.
The new feature can be seen as a way for Instagram to rival Pinterest, which has offered a “Group Boards” feature since 2018, allowing users to collaborate with each other on the platform.
“Now if you go to save a piece of content on Feed or from your DMs, you will see a new option to create a collaborative collection,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said on the IG Updates Channel on Instagram on Wednesday. “From there you can give the collection a custom name and share the collection with your friends. Once they receive it, your friends can start adding content from Reels, Explore, Feed and DMs to the collection.”
Image Credits: Instagram
Any member of the chat can add or remove messages from the collection. Users also have the option to add messages shared in a chat directly to a collaborative collection. If there’s a message in a chat that you’d like to add to a collaborative collection, you can tap the bookmark icon that appears next to the message and then add it to a current collaborative collection or create a new one.
Collaborative collections is a welcome addition to the platform and has numerous use cases. For example, the feature can be used to help a group of friends plan a trip by allowing them to save posts of places they want to see or things they want to try when they visit a new place. Or Collaborative Collections can be used for day-to-day things like managing a dedicated space where you and your friends can share posts about your common interests, such as memes, baking recipes, workout tips, craft ideas, and more.
The launch of the new feature comes as Instagram recently introduced a new way for users to connect with others on the social media platform. Last month, the company rolled out a new broadcast chat feature on Instagram called “Channels.” This feature allows creators to share public, one-to-many posts to engage directly with their followers. Channels support text, images, polls, comments, and more.
Earlier this month, the social network began testing a new feature that allows users to quickly access your recently shared roles to make it easier for users to re-share a role they liked at a later date with a other friend.