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Instagram: Latest update lets you follow hashtags and quickly find top posts you're interested in

It's a significant change, which should make the main photo feed much more engaging

Aatif Sulleyman

Wednesday 13 December 2017 17:44 GMT

The Instagram application is seen on a phone screen August 3, 2017 (REUTERS/Thomas White)

Instagram now lets you follow hashtags, as well as accounts.

It’s a significant move from the social network, which should make your main photo stream a lot more more engaging.

Here’s everything you need to know about the change.

11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed

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1/1111 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed

11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed

Hide and reorder filters

Filters are a core part of Instagram, but there are so many available it can be easy to get lost. You can change the order in which they appear, and even hide the ones you never use, to speed up your photo-sharing process. On the filters page, scroll to the end, tap Manage, then drag and drop the ones you want to reorder, and un-check the ones you want to hide.

11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed

Never miss a post

Instagram controversially ditched its reverse-chronological order feed for a new order determined by an algorithm, making it easy to completely miss some posts. To make sure you never miss a certain somebody’s updates, you can set up notification for them by visiting their profile, tapping the three dots in the top right-hand corner and selecting Turn On Post Notifications.

11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed

Eat less data

If you’re worried about how much of your mobile data Instagram saps, you can limit it by sacrificing the speed at which the photos and videos in your feed load. Go to your profile, tap the three dots in the top right corner, open Cellular Data Use and choose Use Less Data.

11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed

See your Likes

It’s easy to lose track of your friends’ old posts on Instagram, but if you know you Liked it, you’ll be able to track it down easily. Just go to your profile, hit the three dots at the top and select Posts You’ve Liked. You can also save posts in a folder only you can see by tapping the bookmark icon underneath it. Take a look at everything you’ve bookmarked by tapping the same icon that sits near the top of your profile.

11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed

Find relevant hashtags

Everyone knows you can expand the reach of your posts by using a number of relevant hashtags, but what those are aren’t always glaringly obvious. You can easily find the right ones for you by typing a keyword into Instagram’s search bar, selecting a hashtag from the list and swiping along the Related row that appears at the top of the screen.

11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed

Clear your search history

Whatever your reasons are, you can clear your recent searches by going to your profile, hitting the three dots in the top right and selecting Clear Search History. To go a step further and hide your Suggested searches too, go to the search page, tap and hold the account you want to hide, and choose Hide from the pop-up window.

11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed

Hide photos you’re tagged in

Tagged photos on Instagram aren’t as prominent as they are on Facebook, but anyone can still browse through other people’s pictures of you by visiting your profile and tapping the photo of you icon. If you’re tagged in a picture you don’t want other people to see, go to your profile, hit the photos of you icon, tap the three dots at the top of the screen and choose Hide Photos.

11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed

Secure your account

Make your Instagram account much harder to hack by enabling two-factor authentication, a security feature that protects you even if your login details are stolen. Go to your profile, tap the three dots, open Two-Factor Authentication and toggle it on.

11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed

Share lots at once

If you want to upload a bunch of related pictures and videos without flooding everyone else’s feed, you can shared them all as one post. Hit the + icon, select Gallery, choose Select Multiple, pick out up to 10 of the pictures and clips you want, tap Next and reorder them by dragging and dropping.

11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed

Record hands-free

Instagram Stories has been a massive hit since it came out last year, but you might not know that you can record Stories clips without having to hold one of your digits on the record key. On the Stores screen, just swipe through the options at the bottom until you get to Hands-Free.

11 useful Instagram features you didn't know existed

Edit posts after publishing

Most people know you can delete any of the images you’ve already posted, but not everyone is aware that you can also edit them. Instagram unfortunately doesn’t let you tinker with filters and effects, but you can change your original caption, tag people and update the location.

Following a hashtag is just like following an account. All you need to do is search for your hashtag of choice, tap it and hit the blue Follow button that pops up at the top of the screen.

You can discover more hashtags you might be interested in by scanning the Related bar below it.

Top photos and videos from any hashtags you follow will automatically get pulled into your feed, and recent Stories using the hashtags will appear in your Stories bar.

From time to time, Instagram may pull in a post that uses a hashtag you follow, when the picture doesn’t actually have anything to do with the topic you’re interested in.

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#goat, for instance, will be populated with pictures of goats and updates proclaiming something or somebody to be the “greatest of all time” at a particular activity.

Fortunately, you can help train the system to understand what you’re interested.

You can do this by Liking the updates you are interested in, and tapping the menu button above posts you don’t want to see again and choosing the Don’t Show for This Hashtag option.

To mark the launch of the new feature, Instagram has also altered the Following page. It’s now split in two section: People and Hashtags.

If you have a public profile, anyone will be able to see which hashtags you follow. If you have a private profile, the hashtags you follow will only be visible to your followers.

“Today we’re introducing the ability to follow hashtags, giving you new ways to discover photos, videos and people on Instagram,” the company wrote in a blog post.

“Now it’s even easier to stay connected with the interests, hobbies, passions and communities you care about.”

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