Instagram introduced Notes in 2022, a feature meant to function as a status update for short text messages, emoji, or songs that vanish after 24 hours. Since the launch of Notes, the only way you could react to an update was by responding with a direct message -- until now.

On Thursday, Instagram launched three new features: Notes Prompts, Notes @ Mentions, and Notes Likes. The new features give your followers more ways to interact with Notes without having to slide into your DMs. 

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The first feature, Notes Prompts, works similarly to prompts on an Instagram story: you can post a prompt that your followers can click on and respond to. For example, in the photos below, a user says, "Current mood?", and followers can respond to share their moods:

I could see myself using this feature to ask my followers for recommendations. I was recently looking for a new hair stylist, so I posted a prompt on my story with a random photo in the background, asking followers to share their recommendations. Going forward, I could use Notes Prompts to ask questions without having to first find photos.

As the name implies, the Notes @ Mentions feature lets you tag friends on Notes, ensuring the person mentioned sees the tag as soon as possible:

My favorite new feature, which may convert me into a Notes user, is Notes Likes. You can now double-tap a note or click on the heart icon next to the reply text box to like a note, as you would a story or grid post (see the image at the top of the article). 

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Most people I follow use the Notes feature to share songs, quick texts, or fun emoji. Replying with a direct message might be odd in those use cases, especially because there isn't often much to say about a song or an emoji. Now, I can interact with notes by simply liking them.

Instagram is rolling out the new features now to users globally.

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