Lovers of Disney, Pokemon, Harry Potter and Instagram Stories can now rejoice as new filters have been created and released to help people find out which character they are.
In January 2019, Instagram reported 500 million daily active Stories users worldwide, as part of Facebook's Q4 2018 Results. According to eMarketer, the platform will have 117.2 million U.S. users by 2021.
Created by Instagram users, the filters are available through the Instagram app, using the "Browse Effects" function in Stories. The Disney filter was created by user @arnopartissimo, the Pokemon character filter was created by @hughesp1 and the Harry Potter filter by @syilers.
The filters automatically shuffle through characters from the franchises on top of the user's head as they're recording their Instagram story.
Disney characters are included from films such as Frozen, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, the Lion King and many more.
The Harry Potter one includes characters such as The Boy Who Lived, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore and others. The Pokemon filter seems to only include the 150 pokemon from the Indigo League series.
The generator is completely random, so no need to panic if you get stuck with the Beast or Voldemort. It will usually give you a different character each time you use it. To take a photo or video with the filters take the following steps:
- Tap in the top left of the screen or swipe right from anywhere in feed.
- Swipe left at the bottom of the screen and select an effect; to see effects from independent creators, swipe all the way to the left and tap.
- Tap to take a photo or tap and hold to take a video. When using the front or back-facing camera, the effect you choose will automatically appear on the closest person's face.
According to Instagram, 62 percent of people become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories, which shows how easy it is for a filter to become popular. The rise in augmented reality, user created filters, using companies such as Spark AR, has also seemingly exploded since the platform opened it up to all users in August 2019.
Users can get their hands on the filters by clicking on the filter link on their friend's stories or they can search using the Browse Effects menu. Filters can also be saved; users can choose to save it when they click on the filter link when selecting it from the menu.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Sophia Waterfield is a reporter for Newsweek based at its London bureau. She has written for publications such as Metro UK, ... Read more
