There are new features, face filters and innovations on Instagram, respectively on Instagram Stories, which I would like to explain and introduce to you today. From now on, the popular face filters, as known from Snapchat, are also available on Instagram Stories. Especially exciting is the new hashtag function. In addition to Boomerang, there is now also Rewind as a recording option. In addition, an eraser and on Instagram now officially the possibility to post via a browser. But everything in order…

If you’re not familiar with Instagram Stories and haven’t used it yourself yet, I’d like to recommend my blog post How does Instagram Stories work? – I wrote there a month ago that it will certainly not be long before we can also use face filters on Instagram Stories. Yesterday it was then so far and I was lucky that I could watch the live chat of Instagram to match.

Face filter on Instagram Stories – Face Filter

One of the most common features on Snapchat, was or is the face filter for photos and videos. Whether it’s to hide a little more or to look funny, some love the face filters and some are even a little annoyed by the dog tongues and extra ears. Those who have been missing the filters on Instagram so far now have reason to rejoice. From now on, the filters for the face are also available in the selection on Instagram.

As of now, the following face filters are available on Instagram Stories:

• Golden laurel wreath on the head (in the background light from the corner and golden glitter dust)
• Panda ears and black panda nose (the ears straighten when you open your mouth)
• Nerd glasses or secretary with glasses on her nose (if you raise your eyebrows or open your mouth, arithmetic problems appear in the background above your head, which rotate faster again every time you raise your eyebrows or open your mouth)
• Rabbit ears and rabbit snout (the ears straighten up when you open the mouth, if you wiggle your head or put it at an angle, the ears also move appropriately)
• Flower wreath in hair (with butterflies in background and pink light)
• Ice crown of the ice queen on the head (in the background rainbow light reflection and snowflakes drifting by, if you open the mouth so frozen breath comes out of the mouth)
• Variety crown with feathers and glitter crown (in the foreground there are purple colored feathers that fan out when you lean forward)
• Beauty Filter (the image is lightened and softened overall, like subtle makeup)

(so, my counterpart is under the table laughing right now after all my attempts in front of the screen…)

But how do you get the face filters or face filters?

You select the smiley with the three stars in the bottom right of the screen for an Instagram Story shot. Click on the smiley and the filters you can choose already appear. Depending on how the camera is positioned, you can see the filter on yourself or on another person.

You select the desired face filter and can take a photo or video as usual by pressing or holding the normal button. You can save the photo or video back to your smartphone or even send it directly to your own “Story” or just to certain people. If two people want to take a selfie with a filter, however, the filter is only placed on one face and currently not on both faces.

Why is the selection with the mentioned face filters missing on some smartphones?

It can happen that the smiley for the filters is not displayed on some smartphones. Perhaps an old version of Instagram is still installed on the device or the account has not yet been activated for the face filter function. Also, with poor reception or lack of wifi, the use of the face filters may be limited, as they are loaded first.

Use hashtags with Instagram Stories

One feature that I personally have been wanting for a while is that not only the locations and Instagram accounts are clickable, but also the hashtags used. The feature hides in two different places in Stories. You take your photo or video as usual and then click on the top square smiley. Now the button for the location appears, which you can then click later, the temperature, the time, the sticker with the selfie and from now on also the hashtag.

If you click on the button, it now says “#Hashtag” – if you now click on “Done”, the button is gone, because you have not entered your own hashtag. So now you just have to start typing a word – without putting # in front of it. Below you will see suggestions that you can and should choose from. Then you click on “Done” and you can shrink or enlarge the hashtag button as you like and place it by placing two fingers on the monitor.

Another option for hashtags works by clicking the “Aa” sign on the top right and writing your text. You can start directly with # or with a normal sentence and then #. The word that starts directly at the # will be suggested to you again directly below to select. Here you can write several hashtags in a row.

The color and underlay can be changed as usual, the placement can be changed with two fingers. Interesting here is that viewers can click on the hashtag later and see the normal Instagram images for this hashtag.

Possibly, in the long run, you will also be able to find all matching Stories here in addition. Overall, very interesting for brands and own pictures that you have posted fresh under the hashtag. Depending on the Internet connection and reception, it may happen that the selection of hashtags does not work. Since the hashtags are loaded live, there may be delays here with poor connection, or the selection is then not available and it is only posted as normal text.

Rewind on Instagram Stories for reverse videos

Here I have to be honest that my imagination was not immediately enough for practical use. Who would watch if I narrated something and played it backwards?

But this feature, just like Boomerang, is not meant for narration, but for entertaining viewers. Unlike Boomerang, a short sequence is not always shown back-and-forth, but only backwards. Instead of “Normal”, you select the “Rewind” recording function and hold down the button for the rewind video while you are being poured a glass of water, for example.

The recording that is then played back is simply more entertaining than if you had just recorded it normally. Just try it out for yourself.

Colorize entire image and erase spots

From now on there is another interesting function for those who like to work with the pen. You select the “Pen” option when editing the story. Select a desired color and hold your finger briefly on the image to color the entire image. After that, in the upper right corner, select the last icon, the eraser.

At the bottom left, select the size of the eraser and then wipe the part you want to be visible again. After that, click Done and, of course, you can edit the image further if you wish.

Post Instagram picture via the browser

There is one more news for normal Instagram pictures. Since recently, it is now possible via a small detour to post a picture on Instagram via the browser on the PC or laptop. I show you the example on the browser of Chrome.

You call up your own Instagram profile (https://www.instagram.com/vanessa.pur/) and log in to the account. Then, in the browser menu, select: View -> Developer -> Developer Tools (or press ALT+CMD+i). An additional window will appear next to the normal screen. There in the menu you can see a smartphone and a tablet as a second button and click this icon (alternatively press CMD+SHIFT+m).

Now the display in the main screen changes to the smartphone view and you can upload and edit a picture there, as you are used to from the smartphone. You have the same functions as you normally know from the app.

Only the display can deviate a little from the usual display. Certainly very handy if you like to write long texts and don’t use any additional programs to post on Instagram. Unlike the smartphone app, however, there are no filters and no options for image editing available to you here. In the long run, however, this process should be simplified.

Conclusion – Innovations face filters on Instagram and Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories has ousted Snapchat from daily use in an extremely short time. In the meantime, there are hardly any reasons why you should still use Snapchat, except out of habit and because you might have a different audience there than on Instagram.

I’m sure that from now on, we Instagram Stories users and viewers will see almost as many faces with face filters as we did before on Snapchat. The innovation of face filters will surely be well received and used by the younger and more playful generation.

It will be exciting if there would also be additional makeup filters in the long run with the face filter. Personally, I’m most excited about the new hashtag feature, as I previously didn’t see the point in writing hashtags if they weren’t previously linked. Posting via the browser I will still not need, but what I personally still miss is the function of linking to a website as a blogger.

I would love to be able to link directly to the latest videos on my YouTube channel and direct links to my blogposts on my various blogs, as well as links to specific products and clothing. However, I doubt at the moment whether this will eventually be possible for everyone.

I’m glad that Instagram currently manages to show new changes again and again and I’m excited to see what’s waiting for us next. Perhaps a larger development of its own will come soon, instead of the previous copies? I am curious. I also wish you now a lot of fun with the new different face filters.

Addendum and update on the hashtags

I had already mentioned that certainly soon Instagram Stories will also be possible in the search based on the Instagram Stories hashtags. However, I did not expect that it would go so quickly. Thus, today there is my explanation for you about the hashtags and locations on Instagram Stories.

Hashtags Search for Instagram Stories Hashtags

An absolute innovation can be found from now on the search on Instagram, the Instagram Stories hashtags. As usual, you go to the “Search” menu card or click on the magnifying glass and search for an Instagram Stories hashtag, such as “Fashionblogger”. To get only Instagram Stories hashtags and no people displayed in the search, select the “#” under the search term and tap on the desired Instagram Stories hashtag.

As usual, you will now get all the images uploaded to the Instagram Stories hashtag. The top nine images are always displayed first. Above the top nine images, you can see the similar hashtags that might also be interesting. In the upper right corner, you can send the hashtag to your friends – when clicking on it, the friend will also directly see the hashtag.

The selected stories can be found on the top left as an image in a colorful red-orange circle. If you tap on the circle, you can see the Stories of any Instagram user. In the top left corner of the Stories you can see the selected Instagram Stories hashtag and below it the channel that you can tap to go to the profile. If you tap on the round circle or the hashtag at the top left, you will return to the hashtag page in the search.

To place a story there yourself, you have to use the matching hashtag in the story itself. You can find details about this in my blog post about Instagram hashtags. If the Story is selected, this is displayed in your own Stories.

Location Stories in the Instagram search

The innovation for the Instagram Stories hashtags also works for the location search. If you search for pictures from Berlin, for example, if you click on the location, you get a map that you can view in more detail, see the top nine posts and the current pictures. On the top right you can also send the location to a friend.

On the top left, you can see the round red-orange circle for the stories that have been assigned to this location and have been selected. If you click on the circle, the stories from Berlin will run, all of which have been uploaded with a location stamp.

If you want to appear here yourself, you have to specify a location in your own stories based on the stickers. You can find more about this in my blog post about the location stickers. However, there is no guarantee that your own story will actually be displayed.

In the overview of your own stories, where you can see who has viewed the story, you can see the story circle as a viewer and which hashtag was selected. You can also see how many people have viewed the story, but you can’t see exactly who it was.