Big news for marketers who utilise instagram as a part of their social media marketing campaign. The captions on the photos now appear by default.
The photo-sharing company has been silently releasing a new look for embedded photos on the web since last week. In addition to a bigger and simpler embedded photo setting, captions will now automatically appear below a photo or video. Previously, embedded Instagram photos in news articles or blog sites appeared without the original caption, which limiting the original source’s visibility. Along with this update, there is also an option to disable the mentioned feature by un-selecting the “Include caption” option.
The official announcement comes just one day after the photo-sharing site celebrated its fourth anniversary. The new embed code will also include some javascript that automatically resizes the embed horizontally and vertically to fit the site’s container, depending on what size mobile device you’re using.
Existing embeds featured on webpages will continue to work. However, there is a glitch out of the gate, especially when viewing on mobile. Users can easily follow another account on a mobile device with the Follow button on the embedded photo, but he or she must be logged into the app and the mobile desktop page. The new design makes it easier for readers to follow the Instagram account of the embedded photo’s owner via a Follow button, too.
Larger photos and the addition of captions is a good step from Instagram. Publishers that embed photos on websites or articles, especially media outlets, will most likely be pleased with this new appearance, thus more inclined to embed Instagram photos. Users whose photos are embedded in stories will also have a surefire way to gain new followers.