Instagram’s About To Change How You Use Emoji — In A Big Way

For #nofilter fans and other hashtag mavens, we've got big news from Instagram HQ. Starting today, the app will allow users to add emoji to hashtags. This development is a result of just how widespread the use of emoji has become on Instagram. Nearly half of all photo captions include emoji — and, for some users, emoji have become their own visual means of communication. With the advent of what is almost a separate language, making emoji hashtag-able makes perfect sense. Hashtag emoji will work as links within photo captions and as search terms on Instagram's Explore page. Users will be able to hashtag single or multiple emoji and even combine them with text. Along with this new feature, Insta is also expanding its filter options with three new additions: Lark, Reyes, and Juno. If any of these is going to rise to the ranks of Valencia and X-Pro II (two of the most popular filters overall), we're hoping it's Juno, which was inspired by Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger's pet dog. These updates are now available on the app. Happy hashtagging!