Instagram launches Creator Lab in India and introduces new features

Instagram has launched its Creator Lab in India, announced the company at an event in Mumbai on Thursday.

This new educational resource is tailored for content creators and features prominent Instagram users from across the country. The Creator Lab will be available in both English and Hindi, with captions provided in five additional languages.

Alongside this launch, Instagram also unveiled three new features aimed at boosting user engagement through stories, direct messages (DMs), and notes.

The Instagram Creator Lab builds on the platform's "Born on Instagram" initiative, which was introduced in 2019.

The Creator Lab will provide resources and insights for content creators in India, helping them enhance their strategies and reach on the platform.

According to Paras Sharma, Director (Global Partnerships) at Meta India, the lab's content will be contributed by 14 creators from various parts of the country. These creators will share their experiences and strategies, offering valuable guidance for aspiring creators. The content will be available in both Hindi and English, with captions offered in Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu.

Instagram also introduced three new features designed to enhance user interaction and engagement.

The first feature, Comments in Stories, allows users to comment on stories in a way that makes these comments visible to other viewers. This feature extends the platform's existing functionality, where users can leave comments on posts and reels that are visible only to their followers. However, comments on stories will disappear after 24 hours unless the story is saved to Highlights, in which case the comments will remain visible. Users will have the option to disable comments on their stories if they prefer.

Additionally, Instagram is expanding its recently introduced feature that allows users to create cutouts from images and use them as stickers in stories. This functionality will soon be available in direct messages, enabling users to send cutouts from their camera roll as stickers in chats.

The third feature, Birthday Notes, is aimed at enhancing user engagement on their special day. When enabled, a small hat icon will appear in the Instagram Notes section on a user's birthday. Birthday Notes will adhere to the same privacy settings as regular Instagram notes, allowing users to customize their settings before activating this feature.

These new updates are part of Instagram's ongoing efforts to enrich user experience and foster creativity on the platform.