Adam Mosseri, the CEO of Instagram, declared today that the social media platform is introducing its text update Notes feature across Europe and Japan. Notes are brief entries that can contain just text and emoticons and can be up to 60 characters long. They show above your profile picture. Since the feature’s initial deployment in December, Notes has been available everywhere Instagram is available outside of Europe and Japan.

Users can publish Notes by selecting the followers they follow back or other people from their existing “Close Friends” list at the top of their inbox. After they type the actual note, it will stay at the top of their friends’ inboxes for 24 hours. When a user replies to a Note, the message is sent as a DM.

🎉 Notes Launch Worldwide 🎉

Notes are now available in Europe and Japan.

Check it out and let me know what you think! 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/MSSjQZVIuZ

— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) January 30, 2023

Mosseri said in a video broadcast to his social media accounts why Instagram delayed releasing Notes to Europe and Japan during the initial deployment so that the function could be tested for compliance with local laws. It will take a few days for the feature to go out to all users in the two new locations, according to Instagram.

Instagram stated at the time of Notes’ original release that research showed users valued having a simple way to initiate discussions. Giving people a casual and unplanned approach to express themselves and interact with others is the aim of the function.

The New York Times claimed in December that Meta was exploring making Instagram Notes a more competitive Twitter alternative in order to profit from the commotion caused by Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. According to the article, the business had been debating whether Notes should even be a separate app or just another Instagram feed.