Instagram link previews finally work on Twitter again

One of the longest internet beefs between social media networks is seemingly over, with Instagram card previews finally working on Twitter again.

Yes, once again when you share an Instagram link on Twitter, you’ll finally start seeing a preview of the image from the post, instead of just a boring URL. It’s rolling out for web, Android, and iOS, and if you can’t see it right now, know that it’s on the way.

We’ve been starved of this basic functionality for nearly a decade; after Meta-owned Instagram turned off support for Twitter Cards. At the time, the platform’s co-founder Kevin Systrom said the change was to “drive more traffic to the web experience for Instagram,” but all it really did was piss everyone off.

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I mean, imagine if TikTok decided to stop showing videos in embeds, or if Tweets didn’t embed themselves, like in the one we embedded right beside this paragraph. Madness, but that’s exactly the situation we’ve been living in since 2012.

Both Instagram and Twitter announced the welcome return of Instagram Twitter Card previews, so you won’t have to upload the same images in multiple places for your followers to interact with. We’ve been trying the feature with all of our social accounts to no avail, so it seems we’re in the “just needs to wait a little longer” camp to see the triumphant return of Instagram Twitter Cards.

The cynic in us is wondering if the end of this internet beef is because Meta wants all the internet goodwill it can muster after its rebranding from Facebook last month. Since the rebrand, it’s also publicly ended its controversial facial recognition program that was used for tagging people in images or videos.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere. His hobbies include photography, animation, and hoarding Reddit gold.