Instagram really wants you to try out "notes" — its status feature that harkens back to the instant-messaging days of the internet.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, posted about the feature this month with the prompt: "What are notes about?"
It's a fair question because not everyone knows exactly what the feature is.
"In case you noticed these at the top of your DMs but aren't sure what they are about ... notes have quickly become a popular way for people to share thoughts or status updates with their Close Friends or people who follow them back," Mosseri wrote in the caption of the post. "They're sort of like AIM status, for those of you old enough to remember that reference, and usage has grown at a wild pace, particularly with young people."
The feature first launched in December 2022 and was quickly followed by the launch of "broadcast channels," a one-way group-chat product in which creators can connect with their fans.
It's all part of Instagram's beefing up of its DM portal, which has become a hub for young users and is where the bulk of short-form videos (and even photos) are being shared on the app.
"More and more sharing is going to shift from feed-based formats to messaging-based formats," Mosseri said in a recent interview about the future of social media.
Since launching notes, Instagram has continued to evolve the product, introducing several new updates, such as adding video and music capabilities last fall with its eyes on Gen Z users.
"We really always are looking to the youngest generation for what's new and how to evolve," Ashley Yuki Alexander, a vice president and cohead of product, said at an October event. "And that really shapes our product strategy."
More recently, Instagram added the ability to like and tag others in notes.
But there's a problem for creators. The feature is one of several Instagram tools focused on connecting users with people they mutually follow. Even Mosseri acknowledged this in his recent Instagram post, writing "sorry creators" and adding that notes "is all about starting conversations with people you care about."
Still, creators are using this tool to update their friends and followers on new content, share music they're listening to, and even apply for job opportunities.
"It's kind of like an icebreaker because I'm able to respond directly to someone's note," the creator Celine Mili said. "It's also great for looking for creative opportunities if you're following industry professionals."
Directing traffic to new content and discovering music are big pros
Many influencers who Business Insider spoke with said they used the notes feature to boost engagement on their Instagram stories, reels, and carousel posts. But they noted that the feature could be used only by those whom they followed back, which greatly limited the reach.
"It's a great way to announce if you have something new on the grid," the creator Jyoti Chand said. "If you ask a question, it really boosts your engagement, and it starts a conversation in the community. It reminds me of the old Facebook status back in the day."
Walé Oyerinde, another creator, said he loved using the notes feature because it was one of the "lowest-effort high-impact" ways to boost regular engagement on the app.
He travels frequently for work, and he said that whenever he posted where he was in the world, he'd get more responses to notes than to posts and reels.
"It's a great way to share information without having to go into elaborate details; it's a snapshot of whatever I'm thinking, and it's just been super useful," he said.
Sharing music is another popular way creators have been using the app, four of them told BI.
"I've been put onto some bangers," Mili said.
The creator Queen Khamyra said music was a personal way for her to share her mood so her community could feel as if they knew her better.
"I love notes; I'm posting new ones every day or every other day," she said.
Opening up visibility to all followers and reaction options could make the feature even better
Since you can only share notes with people you follow back, it's sometimes difficult for creators with large followings to reach the audience they want, the creator Avalon Zborovsky-Fenster said.
She has 151,000 followers on Instagram but follows back a little more than 300 people, who mainly comprise close friends and family, brands she's worked with, and other creators and industry acquaintances.
"It's particularly difficult as an education creator because there are so many resources that I want to broadcast, but because of the limitations of the feature, I can't," she said.
She said she wanted the notes feature to be visible to everyone who followed her so she could continue building her personal brand and cultivating a more-engaged online community.
Correction: June 17, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the surnames of the creators Celine Mili and Avalon Zborovsky-Fenster.
