Let's talk about Instagram again because the second most used social media currently in the world never wants to lag behind, and if Facebook already integrated Giphy last year to allow users to be able to respond using animated GIFs, as of a few days the social visual by exception also allows this option.
There is no talk yet of a takeover by the Zuckerberg behemoth toward the company Giphy, a historic search engine containing thousands of GIFs, but we want to speculate on a future within the larger Facebook family.
Instagram's approximately 800 million users have probably been waiting for this announcement for some time, but with the new update to Instagram version 29, it is possible for all users to further personalize their photos and videos by including a cute animated image that makes your stories even more fun and interactive.
Just to bring to your attention two numbers about the user base using this medium, the latest figure updated at the beginning of January 2018, speaks of a number that hovers around 300 million users who use Instagram Stories on a daily basis.
If after reading the first few lines of this article you have already gone to try the new version of stories, but you still do not see gifs within your stories section, we recommend updating the app available for both Android and iOS.
Below are links to the respective versions in the Play Store and App Store.
If you haven't used this new tool yet, you may want to have fun indulging in using GIFs in your next Stories right away!
Mini lift stories Instagram guide
Below is a mini-guide to guide you step by step:
- First, make sure your Instagram app is updated to the latest version (and if not, find links to update above in the article).
- At this point to make the update active exit the app and then reopen it.
- Swipe left to make a Story or click on the camera icon at the top left of your home page.
- Take a photo or make a video for your Instagram Story and click on the smiley icon where you find the stickers (first symbol on the top right)
- Click on the little icon on which the words "GIF" appears in motion (third row on the left)
- Add the GIF(s) you like best to your story. GIFs can be resized and placed anywhere within the photo.
- Share your creation with all your Instagram contacts or if you prefer send it directly to selected contacts through direct message.
Another Instagram news that for now only echoes in the air but has been confirmed by Instagram programmers themselves, as can be read in their official blog, is the possibility soon to upload photos or videos of any size for Stories. We think this is really good news for all users who, in this way, will no longer be forced to insert cropped images with special software or, in any case, all those users who are forced to capture or take photos/videos exclusively in "vertical" format.
Another clarification is that any extra space can be filled with a custom color gradient according to one's taste and the content of the photo.
We can already tell you a little more about this: in order to load the image or video in the vertical format, all you have to do is pinch it and it will fit the story frame in its original size, whether square, vertical or horizontal.
What else to say? At this point we are already looking forward to the next Instagram update.
