Technology

Tuesday Buzz: Instagram Makes Switching Easy

The photo-sharing social networking giant makes it easier to switch between accounts on the fly. Also: The importance of shared value for private communities.

Instagram may be popular, but the photo-sharing platform is surprisingly limited in terms of what it has to offer power users. Features common on other platforms simply have no Instagram equivalent.

For one, Instagram is not designed to allow users to easily share links outside of their profiles. For another, users can’t use a third-party tool, such as Buffer, to schedule new shares—instead, users have to rely on apps that remind you to share a photo at a specific time. And the photo-sharing platform is lacking some security features other social networks of its size have, such as two-factor authentication.

But this week the company threw a bone to power users. Now the latest version of the app for iOS and Android makes it easy for people to switch accounts—such as between personal and company accounts for social media managers. Here’s how the new feature will work, according to the Instagram blog:

Go to your profile settings to add an additional account. From there, tap your username at the top of your profile to switch between accounts. Once you have multiple accounts added, you’ll see your profile photo appear in places throughout the app so you can always tell which one you’re using at the moment.

This is a feature that’ll help you share on social without too many headaches. Now, of course, you just have to make sure you don’t share food photos with your association’s followers.

Where’s Your Shared Value?

“Shared values strengthen bonds and give a sense of identity to everyone involved. Your shared values and culture as an association need to be the community’s unwavering common ground.”

This may be obvious to you from your time at the perch of an association, but does your community reflect those shared values? Stephanie Pelch at online community startup Rasa.io breaks down exactly why this element is important—as well as other elements of what makes online communities sink. Does it feel like something people will leave after a couple of weeks? That’s a problem. Are the trolls out? That’s a problem, too.

The startup has some good discussion points as you consider the potential of taking your community online. Long story short: Don’t forget the value proposition of what you’re building.

Other Links of Note

“The nature of employee engagement is such that it is not amenable to such quick-hit approaches.” John Guaspari, on the American Management Association’s Playbook blog, writes about the challenges of employee engagement.

Three is the magic number. A new RightScale study finds that enterprise firms, on average, are using three public clouds and three private clouds, according to a CMS Wire report.

Want two free gigs of space on your Google account? Complete this online security check-up by February 11.

(iStock Editorial/Thinkstock)

Ernie Smith

By Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. MORE

Got an article tip for us? Contact us and let us know!


Comments