Instagram is becoming an OpenTable for hair appointments and more

Instagram doesn’t want to just be a photo-sharing app anymore.

The Facebook-owned app told Bloomberg it will soon let people make appointments with businesses, just like you can with other appointment-booking services like OpenTable or Yelp. You will be able to book a haircut by going to a salon’s Instagram account and clicking a schedule button. This change, expected to roll out in the “next couple months”, is all part of an effort to expand Instagram’s consumer uses.

It will also primarily give Instagram’s advertisers another way to measure the impact of accounts. There are currently about eight million businesses with accounts on Instagram, and 80 per cent of Instagram’s users follow at least one of those business accounts. There’s also whispers about Instagram adding other tools, such as the ability to add a review in between liking photos of cats and food porn.

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The whole idea does seem really cool. It’d be neat to use Instagram as a one-stop shop for OOTD inspiration and making an appointment to get new spark plugs for your Mini. Next, we’d like to see buy buttons so we can purchase stuff while we swipe through pics.