New Ways to Connect with Friends on Instagram

School is back in session in the US, and people are connecting with their classmates and sharing their school pride and experiences on Instagram. To make connecting and sharing with friends even easier, we’re globally launching nametag, an easy way to add friends in person. We’re also testing a new Instagram school communities feature in the US to help students connect with others from their university right in the app. Whether you’re finding other fans at the football game or meeting classmates in your study group, both nametag and school communities make it easier to connect with new people.

Introducing nametag

Nametag is a customizable identification card that allows people to find your Instagram profile when it’s scanned. Your nametag is uniquely yours and makes it quick and fun to add people and accounts you discover in person.

To try out nametag, go to your profile, tap the button with three lines at the top, and select “Nametag.” You can personalize your nametag by touching anywhere on the screen or by tapping the button at the top to try other designs, such as colors, emojis and selfies with different stickers. To scan someone’s nametag, you can either swipe right into the camera, hover over the nametag and hold down on your screen, or enter the camera by tapping “Scan a nametag” when viewing your own. You can also share your nametag with friends through text messages and over other platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp. Just press the arrow at the top right of your nametag.

Testing school communities

Instagram school communities let you show off your school spirit and connect with other students and recent grads from your university in a common space. We’re testing this feature in a variety of schools across the US.

If you choose to join, you can add a line to your profile listing your university, class year, and any relevant groups such as major, sports team, and sorority. You and others who’ve added the same university can click to go to a directory listing all the people – sorted by class year – who have added that university, where you can follow and message. Messages from people you don’t already follow will go to your pending inbox where you can choose to accept or decline – the same way Instagram Direct works today.

Nametag is available globally on both Android and iOS starting today – to learn more, check out the Instagram Help Center. School communities is currently testing in some US universities and we’ll continue to bring the experience to more in the coming weeks.