Swiping Goes Horizontal With Instagram's New Carousel Feature

This past month, Instagram introduced a new carousel feature that allows you to post up to 10 images at a time. Say goodbye to the angst of having to choose a single image to post! Now you can share more content with your followers in an easier way.

The new carousel feature is one of the many waves of change that Instagram has created lately. With the rise of social media competitors like Snapchat, Instagram has been forced to adopt new methods of communication like "stories" and live videos. Social media platforms are competing to become the omni-channel platform that will be the most sustainable.

The costumers have been exposed to the carousel format before, since Instagram has been placing carousel Ads in user's feeds for months. Now, this marketing technique is available for every Instagram user to use. Some enjoy how the carousel relieves the stress of getting that "perfect shot", giving the user some flexibility when deciding what to post. To others, it mimics the structure of an album on Facebook, making Instagram once again a follower in social media trends.

The release of this new feature opens the debate of whether Instagram's innovativeness should applauded or if it’s seen as an identity crisis. Since they released their story feature last year, many long-time users of Instagram have found disenchantment in it’s need to copy other social medias.They found that the tight constrains is what made the App special. It was a simple platform for the sharing of squared images, period. Cristina Soberon has been using Instagram to share her photographic work since the App was first released. She loves what the platform provides and uses it as her personal photo gallery. Today, she shares her thoughts on the new feature with us:

"I believe that the new carousel feature has plenty of advantages. I used to hate having to decide on a single picture to post when I had a few of the same trip or event that I liked. Now, I can post many at a time without annoying my followers with many different posts. The good thing about the carousel feature is that at the end, you can decide if you want to swipe to see more or not." - Cristina Soberon (@sobercris).

What are your thoughts on this new feature?

“