Instagram is introducing Instagram avatars to its app! Here’s everything you need to know about making your own and what the future of Avatar will hold when it comes to the metaverse.
In short, the Metaverse is coming – ready or not – and these fun little digital personas are just the first piece of the puzzle.
And they are now coming in the form of Instagram avatars. In a recent Instagram video, Instagram head Adam Mosseri explained that “avatars are an important building block for the future of personal identities in the metaverse.”
What are Instagram 3D Avatars?
Instagram avatars are similar to Bitmojis and, if you’re an Apple user, cute little Memojis that you made a while back when you upgraded your phone. It has a customizable personality in itself where you can edit it to look how you want it to appear online. It can look like you, or you can make it look like you’ve always wanted to look!
With Instagram avatars, you can customize almost everything about the avatar—from the outfit to the hairstyle, to the expressions. The sky is the limit.
At the moment, Instagram avatars can only be used in stories and DMs (direct messages), but the way Meta and Instagram are talking… the identity you show in the world of the Metaverse.
How to Create an Instagram Avatar
Instagram avatars are currently available in the US, Mexico, and Canada and will be available in more countries over the next few months. Here’s how to make one for yourself:
To create a 3D avatar Instagram:
- Open Instagram app and go to your Profile
- Tap on the top-right menu icon and in the pop up tap Settings
- Select “account” and tap on “Avatars“
And next follow the editing steps to create your avatar:
These steps are the full editor of your Instagram avatar where you have tons of options to personalize your look. Options include:
- nose and mouth shape
- face color and shape
- body shape
- dress and head
- Hearing aids (a very inclusive feature)
And once you’ve set up all your avatar attributes, just click the ‘Done‘ button in the top-left.
How to use avatar in Instagram Stories
Here is a simple use case for the instagram avatars.
You can select your avatar as a sticker from the Instagram Stories sticker library and place it on the story like any other sticker.