It looks like Instagram is testing ways to separate hashtags from captions. App researcher Jane Manchun Wong shared her discovery via Twitter with a screenshot of the interface.
It shows a new ‘Add Hashtags’ section, which leads to a screen where you type in appropriate hashtags for your post. It also looks like there’s no limit to the number of hashtags that you can add to a post.
Instagram is testing the ability to add hashtags to posts without including it in the post caption pic.twitter.com/OhQn0xcCuw
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) September 20, 2018
This may be in response to all the hashtag abuse experienced by every social media platform. From people hashtagging every word in the caption to those who tie every word in a sentence to a single hashtag, it can all be pretty overwhelming. This new feature, if rolled out, will bring much needed respite to the eyes of Instagram’s users.
Another feature discovered was geofencing, which lets users choose which regions get to see their posts. Brands using Instagram for marketing purposes will find this especially useful, since they can target their content more specifically.
Instagram is testing geofencing posts and stories.
It allows creators to limit the specific countries where their content will be visible. pic.twitter.com/rRE24BPnkj
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) September 20, 2018
Both these features, according to Wong, are still in the testing phase. There’s no indication as to when or if these features will be rolled out, but it goes without saying that they’re pretty highly anticipated.
