Instagram celebrates its 10th birthday with custom icons, a Stories map, and more

Can you believe that Instagram is turning 10-years-old today? The photosharing app that was first released in 2010 and purchased by Facebook in 2012 has seen a glorious rise over the last decade, easily cementing itself into the social media hall of fame.

Now, the company is releasing a handful of small updates and other features to help celebrate the milestone. This includes a private Stories map, new icons that users can use on Android and iOS, and some quality-of-life updates targeted towards bullying.

For the private Stories map, Instagram basically creates a calendar and map of the Stories you’ve shared over the past three years. It’s a small feature, but definitely nice if you want to look back on the simpler times. Also, as TechCrunch points out, it also might be a surprise to some people that Instagram stores your Stories, as many assume the disappearing posts are erased from Instagram’s servers after they leave your profile.

In addition to the Stories map, Instagram is also rolling out new features that should help prevent bullying and malicious comments under posts. The main way this will happen is through the use of AI. Basically, Instagram will compare comments on posts that have previously been reported to auto-hide them. You’ll still be able to see them if you search hard enough for the “View Hidden Comments” section, however.

The company is also improving its “Nudge” warnings, so that users that continually try to post offensive or hateful comments will get a pop-up asking them if they really want to post it.

New Instagram icons

The final update that comes alongside Instagram’s 10th birthday is the addition of new app icons that users on both Android and iOS can use.

From retro icons that the app used to use, to color-coordinated options to match your new iOS 14 homescreens, it’s a small feature, but something I would love to see more apps offer. To access it, head to settings and pull down on the screen, an easter egg will pop up and you’ll the option to change the icon.

Having the ability to alter the aesthetic of your app icons is something I never knew I really wanted, but now that it is available, I would love to be able to do this with more apps.

If you aren’t seeing any of these new features yet, don’t worry, as the update is still being rolled out to users worldwide.

Overall, these are some solid updates from Instagram, especially the new anti-bully measures. Now, the next question, will Instagram survive long enough to see its 20th birthday?

What do you think? How long have you been using Instagram? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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