‘OMG, what is this?’: Australian Instagram users react to new feature likened to MSN Messenger
- Australian Instagram users react to new ‘notes’ feature released on Wednesday
- The new feature is being compared to MSN Messenger feature in the noughties
- Notes are limited to 60 characters and stories disappear after 24 hours
- It allows users to post short status notes to followers, who they follow back
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A new Instagram feature called ‘notes’ has been compared by Instagram users to the iconic MSN Messenger.
The new feature gives Instagram users the option to post short status notes to followers who they follow back or to their list of close friends.
It is basically like a digital post-it note that users can leave for select friends to see. The notes are limited to 60 characters and much like an Instagram story, disappear after 24 hours.
The feature was first released in some countries back in June but was only made available in Australia on Wednesday.
A new Instagram feature called ‘notes’ has been compared by Instagram users to the iconic MSN messenger
![The new 'notes' feature gives Instagram users the option to post short status notes to followers [who they follow back] or to their list of close friends](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/11/10/23/64426039-11414487-The_new_notes_feature_gives_Instagram_users_the_option_to_post_s-a-8_1668124147933.jpg)
The new ‘notes’ feature gives Instagram users the option to post short status notes to followers [who they follow back] or to their list of close friends
Instagram influencer and I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! contestant David Subritzky told The Sydney Morning Herald he is a fan of the new feature.
‘I woke up in the morning and I saw the new notes feature and it was literally someone saying ‘oh my god, what is this?’ said Mr Subritzky.
‘So, I just put a note and I said ‘cheeky middle finger question mark’ because I just wanted to mix it up a little bit because I felt like everyone was being so boring about it.
‘That many influencers on Instagram post pictures that they’ve highly edited and taken four days ago. I think Instagram needs more authenticity because there is not enough of it.
‘It reminds me of MSN messenger and old Facebook statuses.’
MSN Messenger was a widely popular messaging platform in the 2000s where users could place a personal message alongside their name.
Instagram has been known to take inspiration from other successful social media platforms.
It added ‘Stories’ following the success of Snapchat Stories and recently added Instagram Reels – short video clips – similar to TikTok.
The notes are limited to 60 characters and much like an Instagram story, disappear after 24 hours
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The feature was first released in some countries back in June but was only made available in Australia on Wednesday
Instagram Notes is a less in-your-face form of communication as users won’t be notified of them with a push notification, and they are tucked away in the inbox.
They are an easy way to stand out in an inbox without the publicity of being posted as a story and are more casual than direct messages.
For Gen-Z Instagram users who do not have the nostalgia of MSN, many thought the feature was unnecessary.
Tara Aksentijevic, 17, believes the platform should have worked on other issues and the new notes feature was ‘pointless and unnecessary’.
‘They could have fixed other issues instead of adding new features. I don’t think people are going to use it for long,’ Ms Aksentijevic said.
The update comes as Meta – who owns Instagram – laid off more than 11,000 employees via email.
Staffers received confirmation about the cut in a company-wide email, in which CEO Mark Zuckerberg admits he ‘got it wrong’.
He has since taken responsibility for the problems which forced the layoff of 13 per cent of Meta’s workforce.
The update comes as Meta – who owns Instagram – laid off more than 11,000 employees via email. Zuckerberg announced Meta’s layoff was about 13 percent of the workforce
In his email to employees, Zuckerberg told employees the layoffs were necessary after the company lost two-thirds of its value.
‘Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected,’ Zuckerberg said.
‘I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that.’
He also said the company was overstaffed because he was overly optimistic about its growth.
The company said it would pay 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service as a part of the severance package, as well as paying out all remaining paid time off.
Meta – which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – has around 87,000 employees – so cuts of 13 per cent will more than double the headcount lost by Twitter.
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