The popular photo-sharing app Instagram has decided to roll out Stories, which are photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours which is pretty similar to what Snapchat offers with its Stories feature.
Stories on Instagram will work just slightly pretty much exactly like they do on Snapchat. Users can share multiple videos and photos on the app, which will appear in a slideshow format called ‘Your Story’, explains the Instagram blog post.
The blog post also says users will be able to see Stories from people they follow in a bar at the top of their feed. If there is a new Story, a user’s profile photo will have a colorful ring around it.To view Stories on Instagram,just tap on your friend or favourite Instagram personality’s profile photo, and you should be able to their Story. Users can tap back and forward to see the different Stories, and then swipe ahead to see another person’s Story.
If you see a + symbol on the top left of your screen, that means the Stories option has gone live for you. Else just swipe left from anywhere in Feed and the Stories mode will appear. Once you are in Stories mode, tap the Round button at the bottom to “take a photo, or tap and hold to record a video.” A user can edit this photo with text, drawings before sharing.Users can also upload pictures or videos from the camera roll on Stories, by just swiping down on the screen and selecting what they’d like to share. There’s also an undo option to remove any effect you might have applied. Once done, just tap to share this Story. Instagram’s blog adds, “If you want to comment on something you see, you can tap and send a private message to that person on Instagram Direct
Instagram Stories will have the same privacy settings as your account. If your account is private, the Story will only be visible to your followers. However users can hide their entire Story from a specific follower or followers. A user can also “feature a particular part of your story by posting it on your profile,” says Instagram. The update will rolling out globally on iOS and Android.
Stories is a smart way to boost engagement on Instagram, which has crossed 500 million monthly active users. It’s also a way to keep the app relevant, especially at a time Snapchat and its filters are taking over the Internet
