Instagram Improves Sharing Experience With Twitter

Even though Instagram is now part of Facebook, it is still improving the sharing experience with Twitter.

In a blog post today, the company announced that @mentions on the service will translate to correct Twitter usernames in tweets:

For photos shared to Twitter, Instagram now translates @mentions for users whose Twitter username and Instagram username differ.

If the @mentioned user has connected Instagram to Twitter:

• The user’s Instagram username will appear in the photo caption
• The user’s Twitter username will appear in the tweet

If the @mentioned user has not connected Instagram to Twitter:

• The user’s Instagram username will appear in the photo caption
• The @ sign will be removed from the username when shared to Twitter

For @mentions that do not match any Instagram usernames, the @ sign will remain when shared to Twitter.

So, for example, my Twitter username (@BrentDirks) is different than my Instagram handle (@brent2001.) But, since I have connected my two accounts, if someone was to mention me on an Instagram photo shared to Twitter, it would have my correct Twitter handle.

Instagram recently celebrated its second anniversary earlier this summer. The company now boasts more than 50 million users who have shared more than 1 billion photos. Facebook scooped the company up in April for the nice sum of $1 billion.

Available for free in the App Store, Instagram is made for the iPhone/iPod touch but is compatible with the iPad.