Instagram adds shopping and IGTV to Explore
Shortcuts to food, art, design and travel are also being added to the Explore navigation bar.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Instagram has added IGTV and Shop to its Explore navigation bar.
Instagram is bringing three new updates to its Explore feature, including a new navigation bar for shopping and IGTV.
The changes will make it easier to find the people, creators, communities and brands that users most want to see, the social network said.
The first change is a fresh design of the navigation bar, including shortcuts to IGTV, shopping, food, art, design and travel .
Instagram is also touting a better shopping experience, where users can tap on shop and filter by categories of products such as clothing, home decor and beauty.
Lastly, the Explore grid will see "a more diverse set of content," including stories and shopping posts in addition to photos and videos.
According to Instagram, Explore is now being used by over half of all accounts, with the social network "investing heavily" in improving its features.
The changes come on the same day it was revealed that the Direct for Instagram app is being killed off.
Messages sent via Direct will be moved across to the Instagram app, with support being cut off in the coming month.