Instagram adds music and translation to its Notes feature
You'll be able to post a 30-second song clip alongside a caption.
It seems that Meta has a fully fledged Twitter alternative that ties into Instagram on the way. In the meantime, Instagram still has its own Notes feature, which is getting an upgrade today as it now supports music and translation. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the update on his Instagram broadcast channel.
Since December, the Notes feature has enabled users to share short status updates including text and emoji on their profiles. Friends and followers can see these mini missives in the inbox. Adding music to your notes will help you express yourself, Meta says. You'll be able to include a 30-second clip of a song along with a caption. You might think of this as a souped-up version of an AIM away message, where you can post a clip of a song alongside a lyric that vaguely hints at your feelings about a certain someone or takes a passive-aggressive shot at one of your enemies.
In addition, you'll be able to translate notes with a tap. This could be handy if one of your friends tends to post their notes in a language you may not know well.
Meta says that many teens have taken to Notes. More than 100 million teen accounts have posted a note in the last three months. Music and translation are both solid additions to the feature and they'll likely go over well with teens.
Meanwhile, Meta has confirmed it's working on a "standalone decentralized social network" that's focused on text-based updates. According to reports, you'll be able to log in with your Instagram credentials and populate your profile with details from your existing account. The service will hook into ActivityPub, the networking protocol that powers Mastodon, while Meta's said to be trying to convince high-profile users such as Oprah and the Dalai Lama to use it.
