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The latest Instagram news, updates, and user guides, all in one place. Digital Trends offers in-depth coverage of everything this social media platform, including helpful explainers for posting, using the right hashtags, and gathering a healthy following. Here’s everything you need to know about Instagram.
Instagram and WhatsApp lead in sextortion reports, iMessage is weaponized against teenagers: Report
Australia's online safety watchdog says Instagram and WhatsApp top the sextortion complaint list, while teens are being targeted through iMessage and Snapchat.
Yet another study finds too many kids are seeing harmful content on social media
A Molly Rose Foundation study found 34% of UK teens encountered suicide, self-harm, or eating disorder content on social media in a single week, barely unchanged from before the Online Safety Act took effect.
Facebook and Messenger outage sparks logout panic as Meta services stumble
A brief Meta outage logged users out of Facebook and Messenger, sent Downdetector complaints surging, and also affected Instagram while Threads remained less clear in available reports.
Instagram’s new voice message effects let you sound like a pirate, a grandma, or a World Cup fan
Instagram is expanding its AI-powered effects for voice notes to more users, growing the feature from eight effects at its India launch in March to 15, including a new Goal! filter tied to the FIFA World Cup.
You can now tell Instagram’s algorithm exactly what you want to see on your main feed
Instagram is giving users real control over their feeds with Your Algorithm, a feature that lets you add and remove topics across the whole app.
Instagram finally lets you rearrange your profile grid any way you want
You can now rearrange your Instagram profile grid any way you like, with no limits on how many times you reorder your posts.
Instagram will stop bombarding teens with the same kind of obsessively unhealthy content
Meta is testing a new Instagram feature to prevent teens from being repeatedly served the same content, as it expands 13+ content settings globally.
Instagram Plus may tempt creators, but WhatsApp Plus is an easier skip
Meta is bringing paid features to Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Instagram Plus may appeal to creators and heavy users, while WhatsApp Plus looks harder to justify.
Social media is stealing your happiness one scroll at a time
The World Happiness Report found that the more time you spend on social media, the greater the loss to your well-being, and young people in the West are feeling it the most.
Big tech is finally taking child safety seriously, but TikTok and YouTube are lagging behind
Snap, Meta, and Roblox have agreed to introduce new anti-grooming measures after Ofcom's public call for action, but TikTok and YouTube still have a lot of explaining to do.
Spotted a mistake on your Instagram Story? You can finally edit it after posting
Instagram is finally rolling out Edit Story, a long-requested feature that lets users make changes to a Story after it has been posted.
Instagram’s new Instants tool is a brazen copycat of Snapchat and BeReal, but at least it keeps things real
Instagram launched Instants globally, a disappearing photo feature that borrows heavily from Snapchat and BeReal while pushing users toward more authentic, unedited sharing.
Instagram’s teen crackdown moves from DMs to feeds
Instagram’s new supervision tools will show parents which topics shape teen recommendations, moving Meta’s safety push beyond private messages and deeper into the feed that keeps young users scrolling.
Android 17 is about to make your phone a much better content creation tool
Google has announced a slate of creator-focused updates coming with Android 17 at the Android Show I/O Edition, including deeper Instagram camera integration, AI-powered tools in the Edits app, and new a Screen Reactions feature.
Meta’s AI scans photos for bone structure to catch underage users on Instagram and Facebook
Meta is using AI visual analysis to scan photos and videos for physical indicators like height and bone structure to detect and remove users under 13 from Instagram and Facebook.
The best life advice I ever followed was deleting Instagram, and it soothed my frustrated soul
I deleted Instagram on a whim, but what followed was much quieter than that. Somewhere between the restlessness and the silence, I found my focus, my time, and a version of my life that finally felt like my own again.
Social media scams caused over two billion dollars in losses to consumers last year
FTC data shows consumers lost $2.1 billion to social media scams in 2025, with Facebook driving the highest reported losses and investment, shopping, and romance scams leading the damage.
Instagram’s new Instants app is basically Snapchat all over again
Instagram launches Instants, a new app for sharing disappearing photos and videos, offering a Snapchat-like experience focused on private, real-time interactions.
Meta will let parents see children’s chats with AI and intervene before risks spiral
Meta has launched an Insights tab in its supervision hub, letting parents of teens see weekly AI conversation topics across Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram.
I didn’t expect food reels to help my diet – but they might
Watching food videos may help dieters reduce cravings and avoid overeating, according to new research.
Instagram finally lets you edit that embarrassing comment, but there’s a catch
Instagram now lets you edit your comments after posting, but only within 15 minutes, and only the text, while others will see the comment was changed but not the original.
Social media restrictions for minors are gaining steam in more countries
Minors probably didn’t need social media this early, and now it’s showing.
Meta starts testing Instagram Plus subscription with exclusive perks
A month on the house, just enough to reel you in.
Instagram could soon let you watch Reels while offline with automatic downloads
Instagram is reportedly testing a feature that could automatically download Reels for offline viewing.
You are about to see a flood of product recommendations on Instagram and Facebook
Your Instagram and Facebook feeds are about to get more shoppable, as Meta rolls out new affiliate tools that let creators tag products directly inside posts and Reels, pushing more buying opportunities into your scroll.
Yet another global study says Instagram and Tiktok are bad for your mental health
A new global study from the World Happiness Report 2026 links heavy use of platforms like Instagram and TikTo to lower wellbeing.
Instagram is getting rid of its most secure chatting feature
Instagram is ditching end-to-end encryption in DMs by May 2026. Here's what that means for your privacy, why Meta is doing it, and who saw it coming.