Instagram has recently added the new feature 'search' that will surely revolutionize photo sharing on the web. Users are now capable of searching profiles, hashtags and locations on the social media platform.
Searches are still limited to Instagram's app. The feature is not yet available on the web and users are still restricted in searching content on the company's website. Reports reveal that it may take time for the company to expand the service on the web. Web seems to be not the priority of the company.
An Instagram spokesperson states that, "While Instagram.com is designed to be complementary to the mobile apps, it's important to the global conversations that happen on Instagram."
Besides the simple search feature, landing pages for hashtags and geotags were also created. Users can see the top posts when searching locations and hashtags. Posts that gained a considerable number of likes will be displayed on the top. By scrolling down a 'Load more' button appears providing more matching results.
A digital influencer named Lauren Bath who has more than 410,000 Instagram followers on mentioned the advantage of the new feature.
"I think that Instagram's decision to build more services around this site is a smart one as it will attract new people to the platform before they even have access to the mobile application."
Instagram, which started as a mobile-first app made the move to expand and grow its desktop presence. On the other hand, Snapchat which is similar to Instagram is not very interested in expanding in the said area.
Facebook, the owner of the photo and video sharing service decided to improve the platform to make searching and viewing contents a cross-platform experience. Instagram now has more than 300 million active users each month.
