Instagram rolled out Galleries on Wednesday, a new way to share up to ten photos or videos in a carousel, and fashion publishers are already keen to test it out.
The social media platform announced the capabilities on its own Instagram account and also as an update notification in Stories. Now, users can select an icon to chose multiple photos and videos to post at one time. Plus, they have the ability to change the order, as well as edit and change the filters, of all the photos at once or individually. For fashion publications that thrive on purveying the latest styles to the masses, having the opportunity to share a slideshow of looks, rather than inundating the feeds of followers with several standalone posts, is an opportunity to share more streamlined content to users.
Several publications have already started using it, including Allure and Refinery29, who were also early adopters of Instagram Live in December. Allure featured Ramya Giangola, founder of retail and brand consulting firm GoGoLuxe, demonstrating three different ways to wear a Gucci jacket, using imagery taken from the February issue of the magazine.
In addition to sharing its first gallery on Wednesday morning — a look inside a routine by Alvin Ailey dancers at Gibney Dance Studios in New York City — Refinery29 posted an explainer story for how to use the feature. The post encouraged users to “pick a theme for your gallery and stick to it,” since it only allows one caption, rather that multiple captions per photo like a Facebook gallery.
“We’re excited to keep playing around with this feature and to try using images, as well as video snippets— and test different topics — to tell deeper, more engaging stories on the platform,” said Neha Gandhi, senior vice president of content strategy and innovation at Refinery29.
John Lockett — engagement editor at GQ, another publication that has been quick to jump on Instagram’s recent offerings like Stories and Live — said he anticipates the men’s style publication will use Galleries to advance and mirror the storytelling already being conducted in the magazine and on the site.
“Our Instagram audience is already our most engaged, so we want to use Instagram’s new products to build on that,” Lockett said. “No matter how we use Instagram to promote our editorial content, we want it to be a good experience for our audience. Based on first impressions, I’d say Galleries will offer a deeper, richer user experience, which will really showcase the substance our content has to offer.”
Over at Glamour magazine, Annie Fox, senior executive digital director, has plans to use Galleries for upcoming entertainment coverage, such as Oscar looks.
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“Thanks to this new feature, our audience can expect even more red carpet fashion and beauty coverage from us: We can show the ‘it’ dress from every angle or round up our favorite hair trends in real time,” Fox said.
