It looks like Instagram is back at it again, “borrowing” features from other social media sites and plugging them into its platform. This time Instagram has targeted in on Pinterest offering what Instagram calls “My Collection,” a feature that allows you to group your saved post into a folder, much like how you can save things to board on Pinterest.

Back in December, Instagram launched the ability for users to save posts to look at later when you are exploring all the content on Instagram; you can keep that cute puppy picture or that dream vacation flyer. Fast forward to April 2017, and we all have saved posts that are collecting in a random order. Instagram’s solution? Allow users to keep these posts into their collections. We know what you’re thinking, yes now you can put all the saved puppy posts into a folder for when you need cheering up.

To create a collection, simply go into your saved posts and tap the + icon, and then select the posts you want to group together and give them a name! One difference between the "My Collections" feature and Pinterest, is that on Pinterest anyone who follows you is able to view your boards and what you have pinned to each one. Currently, your collections are only viewable to you, but how cool would it be if one day we can share our collections with other users?! Hopefully, Instagram will begin working on that next. Another difference is that with Pinterest, it is a lot easier to get lost and discover new things. Let's say you were searching for a new hair color or recipe, on Pinterest you would just enter your search criteria in the search bar and any results that matched would be displayed. While this makes it easy to find so many ideas, on Instagram you explore by tags, and that parmesan chicken recipe may have been tagged differently than the tag you are searching for, and you may never find the one you want.

Not only does this allow users to save and group fun posts, but for business', having your post added to a collection, especially if they go public, would be an incredible way of having your content shared with users across the platform. Just imagine the number of followers you could acquire if your weekly special is shared by multiple users with their followers. This just goes to show the importance of incorporating social media platforms, like Instagram, into your digital marketing plan. One thing that public collections would do is give users the option to repost, which is something everyone has been pining for. Although it still wouldn't be the ideal method to post something to your followers that had been shared by someone else, it would still give you a way to show them the post, if they were to view your collection.

With the launch of this feature, it is very evident that Instagram is aiming to be a one-stop shop where users can do a little bit of everything. We’ve already seen this with Instagram Stories, as well as with the ability send messages to friends that disappear. With Facebook owning Instagram, it wouldn't be too surprising to see a similar feature pop up there in the coming months as well. What’s one feature you hope to see Instagram launch this year? Do you think this feature is what Instagram needs to dominate other platforms?

Red Shark Digital is here for all your digital marketing needs, including your social media marketing. Contact us today to take your digital marketing to the next level. We would love to help!