Instagram has launched its Creator Lab in India, introducing three new features to enhance user engagement on the platform. 

The announcement came during an event in Mumbai, where the Meta-owned company unveiled creator-centric educational resources.

According to the Business Standard, the first feature, “Comments in Stories,” allows users to comment on stories, with these comments visible to other viewers. This expands on the existing functionality of comments on posts and reels, which are only visible to a user’s followers. 

Instagram Story comments will remain visible 24 hours after posting or longer if the story is added as a highlight. The platform may offer an option to disable this feature.

Secondly, Instagram extended its image cutout capability to chats. Users will soon be able to create stickers from image cutouts on their devices and use them within the platform’s chat function.

Lastly, the platform introduced “Birthday Notes.” This feature displays a birthday hat icon on a user’s birthday in the Notes section. Users must opt-in to use this feature, which adheres to the same privacy settings as the standard Notes feature.

These updates are part of Instagram’s ongoing efforts to enhance creator tools and user engagement. The Creator Lab in India is a hub for educational resources, potentially aiding creators in adapting to platform updates.

Kofluence’s recent report revealed that India’s influencer marketing industry will continue growing. 

By 2028, over 80% of brands are expected to spend up to 30% of their marketing budgets on influencer collaborations. 

Total industry spending is projected to reach $2.8-3.5 billion.