Over the past few days, many Instagram users have noticed a small but significant change in the Notes section: a shimmering touch of gold. Instagram Notes are short text messages that users can share with their followers via the app’s built-in messenger. These messages appear at the top of the Direct Messages screen and serve as quick updates, momentary thoughts, or simple greetings. Similar to Instagram Stories, Notes disappear after 24 hours, making them an immediate and temporary means of communication. The transformation of Notes to gold is part of an initiative by Instagram to celebrate the Paris Olympics.
The platform has programmed a series of Olympic-related keywords and emojis that will trigger this special effect. Users who include these specific terms in their Notes will see their messages adorned with a gold background, thus recalling the Olympic theme. If you want your Notes on Instagram to go gold, you can include one of the following keywords or emojis: Gold, Olympics, Olympic, Podium, Victory, Medal, Goat (in reference to the English term “GOAT”, an acronym for “Greatest Of All Time”), Torch, and medal, torch, and goat emojis.