Instagram is making some drastic changes to its Stories feature that could cause you to pointlessly swipe up. The latest tweak is one of a long line of changes introduced this year, with a new focus on Tik Tok-like roles and the introduction of shopping tools into the app.
But the changes don’t stop there. The Facebook-owned company also wants to revamp the way content is shared with the popular Stories feature, which shows a short-lived slideshow of photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours.
The latest update will give users with a smaller profile a big boost when rolled out more widely. To share links in Instagram Stories, you must currently have at least 10,000 followers or be a verified account. When you do this, you get a coveted “swipe up” feature that you can use to link to your website or promote a product.
But now Instagram is bringing power back to people (or at least non-influencers) by testing a new “Link” sticker that anyone can use to add links to their stories. It works the same as the swipe up link, but can be placed anywhere in the image. Anyone can reply to the story with the link – which is currently not possible.
Whether the feature becomes available to a wider audience depends on how it is used. Too much spam or fake news will result in it being turned off, Instagram told The Verge.
The second update may have already landed in your app.
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Right now, it’s common for users to share other people’s feed posts (the square images that appear on your profile) on their own story. It’s a quick way to share fun memes or informative posts with a wider audience.
For other users, however, this is a bit annoying, according to Instagram. So that makes the process a little more complicated. Instead of pressing the “Share” button below the post, you now have to open a new story and then select “Sticker”. Under the options to add a location, hashtag, or poll, you’ll find a new option to re-share.
Clicking on it will bring up a list of the posts you’ve recently viewed. There are also options to view your saved posts as well as all of your own feed posts. Select one of them to add the image and link to your story.
Instagram manager Vishal Shah said the company hopes it will encourage users to get more creative: “Our hope is that people will be more aware of sharing, which will create a better stories experience for everyone.”
