Instagram Guides emerged in 2020 as an exciting feature, allowing users to craft curated, scrollable content akin to mini-blogs right within the Instagram platform. These Guides were a versatile means to present a collection of Instagram posts, products, or places in a format that was easy to digest and engage with. Users could create Guides for various purposes, from travel recommendations and product highlights to content roundups and FAQ guides. The content was neatly housed within the dedicated Guides tab on user profiles, offering an interactive and engaging way to present information.
A Treasure Trove
Guides were a treasure trove for content creators to neatly stack their content in different categories. This helped them reach out to the audience in a more systematic manner and viewers too could find different kinds of content without much hassle.
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The News of Shutdown
However, recent announcements have revealed Instagram’s decision to shelf the Guides feature by the end of 2023. Alessandro Paluzzi, a renowned app researcher and developer, shared the news on Twitter, confirming the shutdown date as December 15, 2023. This decision comes as a response to low usage statistics, prompting Instagram to streamline and simplify its app based on user preferences.
Preserving Your Content Before Shutdown
For users who have invested time and effort into creating Guides, preserving this curated content becomes crucial before the shutdown. Instagram offers a solution by allowing Guides to be converted into private saved collections. Additionally, users can download their Guides’ data via Meta for a 90-day period i.e., March 14. Guides can be downloaded from the Account Centre until March 14. It can be found in the Saved section of your Instagram.
Instagram Guides served as a valuable tool for creators and businesses to showcase their content in a curated, easily navigable format. While the announcement of their shutdown might disappoint those who utilised this feature extensively, the option to convert Guides into private saved collections and download the data provides a means to retain curated content.
