Instagram separates hashtags from captions to cut down on text

Location-restricted sharing, question stickers, story highlight stickers and separate interfaces for adding hashtags to posts are among the new features Instagram is prototyping or testing.

That last tool could finally cure the #madness of hashtags. With the social network reaching a billion users, people stuff their captions with tagged words in a desperate attempt to reach the popular posts page and, in turn, gain more followers.

The app's growth is staggering, leaving Snapchat further and further behind. With Facebook funding its product, design and engineering teams, the platform can keep offering users new "toys".

Here are three prototypes, one test and a new feature confirmed by one of the world's most widely used social networks.

Hashtag selector

The tool has not been released, and it is not even clear whether it is being tested. Instagram refuses to comment. But a journalist and researcher managed to dig into the Android version's app code, which shows a dedicated "Add Hashtags" option below the caption composer and people-tagging section.

The same researcher previously uncovered details about video calls, music stickers and much more. However, there is always a chance that the platform will drop this feature before it launches.

Separating hashtags from captions could make posts less intrusive and distracting. It could also help the app fine-tune its algorithm to show users more images with hashtags that seem relevant, encourage more people to follow hashtags and help organise the Explore page with new topic channels such as Beauty, Sport or Shopping.

But perhaps most importantly, it could make the photo-sharing platform less irritating. Everyone has a friend who adds so many words after a hash sign that it all becomes an incoherent mess.

Location restrictions

The same researcher went further, uncovering a powerful new tool that could help social media managers, businesses and professional content creators reach the right audience. Instagram apparently has a prototype called "Choose Locations", a post option that lets users select the countries where they want their photo to be visible. Once again, the platform declined to comment.

This tool could let Instagrammers create different content and captions for different countries and languages. Facebook has offered this option for several years, and Instagram already allows users to reach audiences in a particular postcode or within a geographical radius defined in kilometres.

But if this location setting is released to all users, it will allow people and pages to express different identities around the world.

Story highlight stickers

It is official: this feature is being tested. The sticker displaying highlights could be used by anyone, who could place it over their own story. It will extend an existing feature that began testing in March and allows any public post to be shared as a story.

Highlight stickers could open a new avenue for creators who are already stars, encouraging followers to share those highlights and make them go viral, while increasing their potential to attract more fans.

Question stickers

This prototype was revealed by a Twitter user and lets Instagrammers ask a question and specify a correct answer. We are not talking about polls, or even the recent feature for asking open-ended questions. This is about adding several answer options to a question, with the correct answer immediately visible.

This will be part of Instagram's strategy to crush Snapchat once and for all, making stories more interactive and strengthening connections with fans and followers.

Video tags

This new feature has also been confirmed by Zuckerberg's social network: users will be able to tag people in videos, and it should not be long before everyone can do so. It could generate extra visits, as few people can ignore a notification that they have been tagged in a new piece of content.

The tool will also help Instagram work out who should see these videos, allowing them to appear at the top of the feed for the tagged people's closest friends.

GIFs in private messages

The platform has also confirmed the ability to send GIFs through private messages on iOS and Android. Users should be able to search these animated images in a library powered by Giphy. They will also be able to scroll through popular choices or tap the "Random" button after entering a few keywords to add a surprise GIF to the conversation. Finding out who created a GIF and viewing other animations by the same creator will also be possible.

Instagram first allowed GIFs in stories in January, and the journalist and researcher discovered this tool for Instagram Direct in July. Together, these new tools have plenty of potential and show that Facebook's younger sibling will not let its dominance slip.

Even changes in product management leadership have not slowed the app's pace of innovation. It is still unclear whether all these major new features will go ahead. After IGTV's painfully slow start, competing with YouTube seems a very, very distant prospect.

We will also have to wait and see whether users make use of the new shopping channel in Explore. Constantly updating the app takes some pressure off individual feature launches, which carry the weight of a billion opinions.

Would anyone dare compete with something evolving this quickly?