Twitter launches its own Instagram profile

The social platform used to enable its users to embed Instagram photos in tweets, but cut off access once rival Facebook acquired the app. Now it’s warming up to market itself to new users.

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That’s what Twitter executives must have thought when the platform joined Instagram.

When Instagram first arrived on the social media scene, its popularity was fueled by the ability to embed your Instagram pics into your tweets. That feature was short-lived. Competitor Facebook snagged the app in 2011 for a cool $1 billion, and that irked Twitter, which suddenly became unfriendly toward Instagram.

One indication that those tensions might have cooled is that Twitter is now sharing images through its own Instagram account.

Twitter has been losing steam in recent years with declining user numbers and slowing revenues, which has pushed the platform to market itself as a hub for breaking news and unfolding stories.

It has changed the way users’ timelines look and has recently changed the way users find trending stories on its platform with its “Explore” tab.

Explore centralizes trends, moments, searches and video in one location. As Twitter emphasizes its role as a real-time news and events coverage tool, Explore will probably emerge as the home for breaking news and other trending content.

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