Instagram post previews coming back to Twitter

If you are a long time user of both Instagram and Twitter, you may well remember when you were able to see an image preview of your Instagram post when sharing the link on Twitter. The feature disappeared nine years ago when Facebook acquired Instagram back in 2012.

The rationale for disallowing the feature was that Instagram wanted people to view content on their platform, not on Twitter.

Well, now there’s good news for social media influencers as Instagram has brought back the support for the Twitter preview cards. Now, when users share an Instagram link on Twitter, a small preview of the post will be displayed.

Twitter card previews started for some users at the beginning of November and will eventually be available to everyone. Instagram and Twitter are both promoting the change.

“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,” read a tweet on Twitter’s official support account.

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 sparked controversy with users when it removed support for Twitter cards in 2012. The change angered users as it made cross-posting more difficult for them. In some cases, users found workarounds through third-party platforms in order to feature Instagram posts in tweets.

The platform said that it wanted to take back control of its content following its merger with Facebook.

Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom insisted at the time that the mandate came from himself, and not Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg. He said Instagram was attempting to grow its web platform and shared hopes that the move would help increase traffic.