Instagram’s test of a new feature that lets you post a text note to your followers appears to be getting a wider rollout, XDA Developers reports. When available, the feature displays in the messages section of the app, below the search bar. “People won’t be notified when you leave a note. They can see your note for 24 hours and reply with a message.” TechCrunch reported that the feature was being tested with a limited selection of users, but the fact that XDA has the feature working on multiple devices suggests its availability is expanding. Notes can be up to 60 characters in length. The disappearing nature of these notes make them seem a lot like text-based versions of Instagram Stories, which typically revolve around photos and videos rather than text. As with all these features, it’ll be interesting to see how Instagram’s user base makes use of the notes functionality in practice. Notes joins a long list of changes that Instagram has been testing recently, which include ditching the shopping tab from the home feed, as well as a new safety feature to detect unsolicited nude photos.

TWITCH BEGINS TESTING ITS PAID ‘ELEVATED CHAT’ FEATURE

Twitch will begin testing a way for its users to boost their chat messages on the platform. Called “Elevated Chat,” it is meant to let users elevate their chat messages for a specific time using a one-time fee. The fees are presented in five different tiers ranging from 30 seconds to two and a half minutes, with fees ranging from $5 to $100. The feature is currently available for a “limited number of channels” on the platform. The option to elevate chats may appear at either the top of the chat or at the bottom of a video, and a user can purchase an Elevated Chat depending on how long they want to keep their message up. Multiple people can elevate their chat message at once, but it is on a first-come, first-served basis, is queued depending on who purchased it first. Once a chat message is up, moderators can “timeout” or ban the user. If a comment is removed, users won’t be able to receive a refund, and won’t be able to elevate someone else’s chat message, either and will feature a 70/30 split of revenue for creators.