Instagram Brings Back Twitter Card Previews; Now Rolling Out on Android, iOS, Web

Instagram links posted on Twitter will now display a small preview, including an image.

By Nithya P Nair | Updated: 4 November 2021 11:33 IST

Instagram Brings Back Twitter Card Previews; Now Rolling Out on Android, iOS, Web

Photo Credit: Twitter/ @instagram

Instagram earlier allowed full-sized image previews on Twitter

Highlights

Instagram removed the preview features years ago
Instagram links shared on Twitter will show a preview with new feature
The new feature allows cross-posting from Instagram to Twitter

Instagram is restoring support for Twitter Card previews. With the new feature, Instagram links shared on Twitter will show a small preview of the link that includes an image instead of just the URL. The preview will let users have a look at the Instagram post without opening the link. With the latest change, when users share an Instagram link on Twitter, it will display a preview similar to how most articles and other media appear on the microblogging platform. The feature has started rolling out on Android, iOS, and the Web.

Both Instagram and Twitter on November 3 announced the update via tweets. The latest feature will help ease cross-posting from Instagram on Twitter. The Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform earlier allowed full-sized image previews on Twitter but it was taken down in 2012, and shared Instagram links appeared simply as URLs on a tweet.

They said it would never happen… Twitter Card previews start rolling out TODAY. 👀

Now, when you share an Instagram link on Twitter a preview of that post will appear. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/XSZRx9dzd1
— Instagram (@instagram) November 3, 2021

If you want to share your latest Instagram post on the Twitter timeline too, you're in luck: now when you share a link to an IG post in a Tweet, it'll show up as a card with a preview of the photo.

Rolling out on Android, iOS, and web.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 3, 2021

Instagram and Twitter have recently added a bunch of new features. Collabs, unveiled by Instagram in October allow two users to publish the same content in a shared manner. Users can co-author Feed posts and Reels with others and both the creator names will appear on the header on the post. Both sets of followers can see the identical post or Reel as well. Additionally, Instagram has launched support for users to post photos and videos from the desktop browser.

Separately, Twitter recently expanded Spaces to all users. With the Clubhouse-style feature, users on both Android and iOS can create their own chat room. The feature allows the creation of public and private audio chat rooms on the microblogging platform. Additionally, Twitter has introduced a new privacy-related feature that lets users remove a follower without blocking them. Once a Twitter user has removed someone, the user's tweets will no longer automatically appear in their timeline. It is currently available on the Web version.

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Further reading: Instagram, Twitter Card Previews, Twitter, Instagram Update, Instagram Features, Twitter Update

Nithya P Nair

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Nithya P Nair is a journalist with more than five years of experience in digital journalism. She specialises in business and technology beats. A foodie at heart, Nithya loves exploring new places (read cuisines) and sneaking in Malayalam movie dialogues to spice up conversations. More