In his latest tweet, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced that the company is testing, and set to launch a string of new features on the platform, including a BeReal clone called Candid Stories.

Now, this slightly differs from Instagram's Dual feature, which arrived for some users in July. Candid Stories is a direct replica of BeReal, allowing users to share an image that includes a snapshot from both front and back cameras prompted by a daily notification reminder. Instagram did confirm it was testing this feature earlier this year and will launch Candid Stories as a test in South Africa. With the addition of TikTok Now and BeReal winning ‘App of the Year’, it will be interesting to see how Instagram’s offering stands against an already highly saturated format.

In other updates, Instagram also revealed…

• Notes: Short posts of up to 60 characters using just text and emojis.
• Pass it on Prompt: An update to Add Yours where users can invite friends to participate by tapping pass it on when you see a prompt that reminds you of them.
• Group Profiles: A dedicated, shared profile with friends where users can share posts and stories to their group profile and its members.
• Collaborative Collections: A way for people to connect with friends over their shared interests by saving posts to a collaborative collection in your group or 1:1 DMs.

Read more on these new features here.

Your weekly round up of the latest industry news and platform updates collated by Digital Voices’ Strategy and Insights team.

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