Instagram’s new feature will allow you to follow something other than people
Instagram is about to drop a feature that allows us to follow something other than people. No, we’re not talking about your friend’s dog’s Instagram account. In an upcoming Instagram update, you’ll be able to follow hashtags. This means we’ll see more posts pertaining to our favorite obsessions (looking at you #slime). These posts, tagged with the hashtag you’re following, will appear right on your home feed. You’ll even see related content on your Instagram Stories page as well.
This new feature was created in an effort to expand the community aspect of Instagram. Not only can you stay in touch with friends through the app, but being able to connect with others who share the same interests with you is something the platform wants to further encourage.
So how does one follow a hashtag? It’s similar to the way you’d follow a person. Simply search for a hashtag on your Explore page or tap on a hashtag used in a post. Relevant hashtags will pop up during your search, so tap the one that speaks to you.
Open the hashtag page and tap “follow.” Top posts from the hashtag will then begin to appear in your feed.
You’ll also be able to see what hashtags your friends are following by checking out their profiles.
The visibility of these hashtags will depend on a user’s privacy settings. For private accounts, hashtags will only be visible to followers.
Those Instagram slime videos are about to take over our lives even more so than they already have.