We're One Step Closer to Clickable Links On Insta

Fashion bloggers and brands, it's time to get those party hats ready. It looks like clickable links on Instagram are on their way, and it's going to be huge. Granted, they've only announced it for their new carousel ads, but it's a promising step in the right direction for those of us who are seriously tired of seeing the phrase "link in my bio!" in captions. Give it up: no one has time for that ish.

If you haven't heard about Instagram's new carousel ads, here's the lowdown. Basically, you can scroll horizontally through 4 images on what otherwise looks like a regular Instagram picture, and the last photo has a "learn more" button below it on the righthand side, which takes you to a link that will lead you out of the app. Instagram has avoided adding clickable links in an effort to keep people scrolling through photos instead of moving over to the World Wide Web, but marketers wanted a new way to reach consumers, according to TechCrunch.

Even though only advertisers are able to take advantage of this new feature as of right now, it's going to be huge for fashion bloggers and brands if and when it hits the mainstream. Stylish account holders will be able to link #OOTDs to their full blog posts, brands will be able to link pieces to their e-commerce platform, and users won't have to rely on apps such as Like To Know It to find out where to buy the clothes and accessories that stick out to them. Fashion sites like Net-A-Porter and Zappos will be able to tout what's new and give users a direct path to purchase, and fashion writers will be able to link to their stories (ahem, Instagram, I need this.)

And here's the thing. We've seen it with so many social media sites before: they get hugely popular, and then people forget about them once the Next Big Thing comes along. Remember MySpace? Yeah, me neither. If Instagram isn't willing to get on board with clickable links for users, another platform will. And while it's hard to believe Instagram will ever become obsolete now that's it's in its prime, if they're not willing to give users what they want, people will move on. Maybe that's in 2, 5, or 10 years, but it'll happen if they don't respond to pressure.

Fashion is a major part of Instagram's business, so I think they'd do well to let the general user have access to clickable links in addition to advertisers. Because, seriously: "link in my bio"? It's 2015, people. Instagram, it's time.

Image: Giphy