Instagram Guides Might Expand to Areas Outside Wellness Content

When Instagram Guides launched in May it was exclusive to the Wellness Content space. Now, Instagram is developing tools that will allow creators to build out Guides for other types of tips and recommendations, too — like recommended places or even recommended products.

The larger goal with Guides is to give Instagram users a way to post longer-form content that’s not just a photo or video. Currently, Guides can include photos, galleries and videos sourced from either the creator’s own profile, which is more common, or from other creators. In addition, the Guides include commentary or tips alongside the media.

The feature would allow creators to use Instagram as their platform for sharing tips and advice, instead of having that traffic redirected outside of Instagram — like to a blog or other website. Just remember you are playing by their rules when you have your content in a walled garden like Instagram.

NOTE: The feature was likely discovered by reverse-engineering the app to find hidden features and security vulnerabilities, so while it’s possible this may come up as a feature in the future, there is no guarantee that it will.