Instagram has recently unveiled its Creator Lab in India during a gathering in Mumbai. This initiative serves as a resource for creators, showcasing prominent Instagram personalities from the region. The platform will be accessible in both English and Hindi, with captions provided in five additional languages. Alongside this educational endeavor, Instagram introduced three new functionalities designed to enhance user interaction through stories, direct messages, and notes, while also emphasizing features that have already begun rolling out to users.

The Creator Lab aims to build upon the Born on Instagram initiative that was initiated in 2019. It is set to equip content creators in India with vital tools and resources, as shared by Paras Sharma, Director of Global Partnerships at Meta India. The lab will curate content from 14 diverse creators from across the nation, who will provide valuable insights and strategies for those looking to start their journey in content creation. This content will be offered in both Hindi and English, with Meta also providing translations in Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu.

Among the new features launched, one called Comments in Stories enables users to comment on another user’s story, making the remarks visible to other viewers. Previously, users could comment on posts and reels, which were visible only to their followers. The new Comments in Stories feature builds on this capability, offering more ways to engage.

Comments made on stories will vanish 24 hours after the story is posted. However, if the user chooses to add the story to their Highlights, those comments will remain. Instagram additionally provides the opportunity for users to disable the commenting feature on their stories. It has been confirmed that this capability has already been implemented for some internal staff.

Additionally, Instagram has introduced the ability to use image cutouts as stickers within stories, with plans to extend this feature to direct messages. Users will soon have the capability to send cutouts from their own image library as stickers in their DMs.

Another exciting new addition is the Birthday Notes feature, which is expected to foster more engagement on the platform. For users who opt in, a small hat icon will appear in the Instagram Notes section on their birthdays. Birthday Notes will operate under the same privacy settings as regular notes, meaning users should configure these settings appropriately before activating the feature.