Instagram Adds March Madness-Themed Features

Instagram’s added some new options for March Insanity, offering extra methods for followers to have interaction with school basketball within the app.

First off, IG’s added some new basketball animations that may seem on Notes while you use sure key phrases.

As you’ll be able to see on this instance, while you embody phrases like “Bracket buster,” “Slam Dunk,” and “Miami Warmth” in your inbox Notes, basketball icons will seem in your Notes show.

I imply, I’m undecided how many individuals are saying “did you see that slam dunk?”, however semantics apart, it’s a themed addition for basketball followers.

Instagram’s additionally added a particular impact for DMs while you share a Reel from the event, or from one among your favourite group’s IG accounts.

There’s additionally a brand new “basketball” chat theme, in addition to team-based “Add Yours” templates for Tales, offering extra methods to indicate your help.

Lastly, IG’s additionally added 32 new team-specific Giphy stickers for Tales.

Some enjoyable additions, which may assist to encourage extra engagement and sharing across the occasion. I imply, most of those are Easter egg type additions, so that you’re not actively including them, as such. Besides, when different customers see these results activated, that would encourage them to share the identical.

Instagram’s eager to faucet into sports activities, with the intention to win extra followers throughout from X, which stays the chief in real-time sports activities engagement. If Meta can construct its personal sports activities communities, on each IG and Threads, that might be an enormous step in constructing each apps as pure houses for real-time sports activities dialogue.

Which X remains to be higher suited to, however the visible focus of IG may make it an excellent complement, and thematic celebrations like this may increasingly assist in Meta’s broader effort.