A few months ago, Instagram announced that they had changed their social messaging within their app to help distinguish when your friends were on and offline. The new update reflected the messaging system that Facebook uses very closely, and now, their newest update also seems to lack originality. Perhaps it's all for a reason though.
This past week, October 4, Instagram rolled out with a QR-Snapchat styled "nametag" feature. The program allows you to customize your own Nametag with emojis, pictures or standard colors. You can either scan someone else's Nametag to quickly follow them or have them take a picture of yours to do the same. It basically created a quicker, more efficient way to add follow people (or have people follow you) on Instagram. Have you ever been at an event where you meet new people that you really enjoy so you pull out your phone to snap a picture of their Snapchat code so you can stay connect? Well, now you can do it with Instagram too.
How do I use it?
To view and customize your Nametag, go to your profile and click on the three lines in the top right corner. You should see a tab that says "Nametag," click it and then customize it by clicking on the button on the top of the screen.
To capture other's "nametag," simply swipe to the left (as if you are going to add something to your story) and take a picture with the stories camera OR use the "scan Nametag" button on your own Nametag to instantly follow.
Why is this important?
Honestly, I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner. When Instagram changed it's messaging feature (even slightly) this summer to reflect that of Facebook's, it wasn't that shocking because Mark Zuckerberg also owns Instagram. What makes this case so different (and ironic actually) is that Evan Spiegel actually turned down an offer from Zuckerberg to buy Snapchat in 2013, so Snapchat has no relationship with Facebook or Instagram whatsoever.
Despite the fact that Snapchat and Instagram have next to no relationship with each other, I think this feature was the very beginning of an attempt to bridge the gap between varying UX in social platforms. The more similar the platforms become in the way that they operate, the more accessible, attractive and easily understandable they become to wider demographics, and that's really the goal of social media as a whole: to connect people.