Instagram says that research conducted in India showed that one barrier to the entry of new products was the size of the app. (Image: Instagram)Instagram Lite, a lighter version of the main app will now be available for testing in India. The announcement was confirmed at the company’s ‘Facebook Fuel For India’ virtual event. Instagram also announced the second edition of the ‘Born on Instagram’ creator program.
The Facebook-owned app has added a number of new features this year, including Reels, which is similar to TikTok. Facebook also announced Live Rooms this year. With regard to the Instagram Lite app, the company confirmed it will start testing the app in India as well. The app is less than 2MB in size and “is built to deliver an Instagram experience that remains fast and reliable for more people,” according to the company.
Instagram’s second edition of ‘Born on Instagram,’ program was also announced. This is designed to help the next generation of content creators with best practices to use the platform, and enable them with collaboration and mentorship opportunities, says the company.
“India is such an important country for us and has been a testing ground for innovation, thanks to the natural creativity and entrepreneurial spirit we see here. With the test of Instagram Lite, and the next edition of Born on Instagram, we’re aiming to democratise expression and creativity for a greater number of people in India. We’re also hoping to gain valuable insights before a global rollout of Instagram Lite,” Vishal Shah, VP of Product, Instagram at Facebook, said in a press statement.
Instagram says that research conducted in India showed that one barrier to the entry of new products was the size of the app. This set the context for the test of Instagram Lite, and India is a primarily test country for it, notes the company.
The Instagram Lite app is made for Android and this new version has improved speed, performance, and responsiveness. Some features that are not currently supported are Reels, Shopping and IGTV. The app will be available in Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu in India.
The Born on Instagram 2.0 program was first started in November 2019 to discover, grow and showcase creators from all across the country. The program has been attuned to incorporate the new features on Instagram, especially Reels. It will go on for a period of six months and will continue to offer masterclasses from internal and external experts, as well as collaboration and mentorship opportunities to creators.
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