Hey, are you checking Instagram enough?
If not, then here's an email of the best photos your friends took.
The photo-sharing service Instagram recently started sending users email digests of all the photos that their friends and followers sent out last week. According to TechCrunch, almost all users got their own version of the digest in the last week. An Instagram spokesman confirmed that this would be the first time that Instagram users would have received the Highlights.
But why on earth would Instagram need a digest-style "Highlights" email service? After all, aren't social media notification emails out of fashion?
TechCrunch thinks that it could help Instagram fight the oversharers. Instagram fits into the category of a "maturing social network that shows a live, reverse chronological feed of posts."
This kind of social network makes it hard to moderate what content or photos a user sees. The only customization feature is the subcribe/unsubscribe button. But unsubscribing isn't always the best option, since the other person would eventually find out about the unfollowing.
Instagram Highlights provide a way to track the important accounts in your life and to see the photos that matter most to you.
While this sounds useful, it's unclear at this time how customizable it will be. Users do have the ability to unsubscribe from Highlights, but they cannot resubscribe. Users cannot customize the email, or change the content in any way. It's also unclear what algorithm Instagram uses to power Highlights, or how user behavior will affect it.
All Instagram users now have access to Instagram Highlights.