Snapchat turns to ‘tag’

Snapchat has introduced the 'tag' feature, which will let its users call each other out in 'Stories'. The tagged person's name, handle and Bitmoji can be seen with the swipe up 'more' option. It also comes with an 'add' button so users can follow them. The option will give Snap another way to expose users to more Snap content and promote influencers. Snapchat has confirmed to a popular tech portal that they are testing the new feature.

 Discussions are rife about how Snapchat has borrowed this feature from Instagram this time. Earlier Instagram had ripped off the 'Story' feature from Snapchat. However, this new addition proves to be important with the re-designed Snap experience. In the new format, content from connections lives in one tab, with content from everyone else, including brands and influencers, in the revised ‘Discover’ tab. If brands can create more connections with their audience, it could help them shift across to the more widely used friends tab rather than the less used ‘Discover’. With this new feature, Snap can help spark conversations that can lead to visual communication, which is what Snapchat is all about.

 Users can type out a name in the text field on the image or video caption in Stories and they will be able to tap on it to bring up a new menu linking to user info and can directly add them as a friend.

 On the downside, there is no autofill feature that appears after typing '@'. The users will have to remember the username of the person they are planning to tag. Moreover, friends will not get a notification when they are tagged. They might only learn about it when they start receiving friends requests.