Instagram has launched online profiles that let users showcase themselves and photos they’ve taken with the Facebook-owned smartphone app.
The move follows Facebook’s acquisition of the company earlier this year, as it looks to boost its photo sharing capabilities and keep users on its social network.
“Instagram web profiles are a beautiful new way to view and share Instagram on the web,” said a message at the company’s website. “Your web profile features your photos along with your profile photo and bio, giving others a look at the content you share on Instagram.”
People can share their profiles with selected friends or publicly, and “follow” other Instagram users, commenting on or expressing “likes” for pictures.
The update also opens up a new channel for brands. For example, in order to view Nike’s profile, @nike, users can now navigate to instagram.com/nike on the web.
Facebook completed its acquisition of Instagram in September. The original price was pegged at $1 billion but the final value was less because of the decline in Facebook’s share price.
The main point of Instagram is to share smartphone snaps, which can be enhanced with image filters to mimic vintage types of film.
View the official announcement here
