If you hopped on Instagram today, you may have noticed some changes.
The Facebook-owned photo and video-sharing service just introduced a few new tools to help you jazz up your stories: Boomerang and mentions. Plus, Instagram is starting to test links inside some stories.
Instagram launched Boomerang more than a year ago, and now you can use it without having to download a separate app. Boomerang stitches together a burst of photos into a GIF-like "mini video," which plays forward and backward. With this update, you can easily shoot a Boomerang right inside Instagram.
To try it out, swipe right from your feed to start a new story. Here, you'll see a new format picker under the record button that lets you select "Boomerang" mode. Just tap record and the camera will "stitch together a burst of photos into a mini video that plays forward and backward."
You can also now mention specific people in your stories, just like you can in captions and comments. When you add text to your story, type the @ symbol followed by a username and select the person you want to mention. Their username will appear underlined in your story, and when someone taps the mention, they'll see a pop-up that takes them to that profile.
If someone mentions you in a story, you'll get a notification in Direct. Just tap the preview to go straight to the story as long as it's live. If someone you don't follow mentions you, you'll see the notification in your message requests.
Finally, Instagram is letting some verified users add links to the bottom of their stories.
"From discovering the latest music by Chance the Rapper (@chancetherapper) to learning about a new movie starring Dwayne Johnson (@therock) or reading a related article from Bustle (@bustle), tap 'See More' or swipe up to view the link right inside the app," Instagram explained.
Meanwhile, Snapchat this week rolled out an update that lets you rewind stories and tap into a new feature called World Lenses.