Instagram is testing a new feature that would let you pin particular posts above the grid on your profile page.
Testing is currently limited to a select group of users on the platform. To see if you’re one of them, simply go to one of your posts, tap the three dots at the top right, and look for the message “pin to your profile” in the list of options.
Instagram confirmed to TechCrunch that it’s considering adding content-pinning to its app, telling the news outlet: “We’re testing a new feature that lets people feature posts on their profile.”
While the existing Instagram Stories feature lets you select content to highlight via your profile page, doing so takes a little longer to set up compared to simply pinning a photo to your profile page. Also, whereas Stories content disappears after 24 hours, a pinned photo would remain in place until you choose to remove it.
Giving users the ability to pin specific posts to their profile page will be great for, say, professional photographers, as it will offer an easy way to showcase particular work rather than leave it buried deep in the feed. Brands and influencers would also surely welcome the chance to have more control over the appearance of their profile pages.
Testing of the feature comes several months after Silicon Valley insider Alessandro Paluzzi revealed Instagram was looking at the idea, although at the time it appeared to involve letting users pin images to the top their grid rather than above it.
We should point out that as this is a test, there’s a chance it won’t be rolled out to the entire community. However, if it proves popular and works as planned, expect Instagram to introduce the feature — or at least a version of it — in the coming months.
We’ve reached out to Instagram for more information on the new feature and we will update this article when we hear back.
News of the latest test comes in the same month that Instagram added new features to the app’s direct messages tool.
