Instagram is always making changes, both to help small businesses achieve more through the app, and, it seems, to frustrate those who rely on it. The latest updates seem poised to do the former, with actions like comment editing and trial Reels making their way to users. Plus: Do you find yourself sharing your own grid posts to Stories? Instagram’s chief touches on whether that actually increases visibility and engagement or not.
First off, if you’ve ever found a mistake on one of your comments but it’s already gotten engagement so you don’t want to delete it, Instagram has a new solution for that. The app finally added the ability for users to edit comments—though it can only be done within 15 minutes of posting. Instagram also shares that people will be able to see that it has been edited (but they won’t be able to see the version history).
There’s some reason to believe this feature could be used nefariously, though. “Comment editing has long been a contentious issue for social platforms, due to concerns that people could use this to alter the meaning and context of their replies, which could potentially lead to misleading engagement metrics,” writes Social Media Today. “As an example, if a user posted a comment saying that they agree with the content of a post, and that comment then got a lot of likes, the commenter could then edit their reply to say the opposite, which could then suggest that a lot of people disagree with the implication of the post.”
Whether or not this becomes problematic on Instagram will reveal itself in time; the new reply-editing function is being rolled out to all users now.
For creators on Instagram, the ability to schedule Trial Reels could help them churn out more content. Trial Reels, which Instagram introduced in December 2024, allow creators to share their content with a selection of users who don’t follow them, basically enabling them to get feedback on new ideas from a fresh audience. The concept reportedly led to an 80% increase in Reels reach among non-followers, and has become something of an engagement hack for creators.
Finally: Have you basically given up on your grid posting because it doesn’t get nearly as much engagement as Stories? You’re not alone. It has become common practice on Instagram for content posted on the grid to be shared in stories, with the assumption of boosting eyeballs on that post. Not so, said Instagram chief Adam Mosseri in his weekly Q+A session on Instagram Stories.
“You can definitely share your own post to your Stories, or re-share your own post, but it’s not going to meaningfully change your reach overall, because Feed generally gets more reach than Stories anyway, and you can’t really re-post your own thing because it was already posted, so it won’t really change the eligibility,” Mosseri said.
Mosseri goes on to explain that Feed posts get more opportunity for reach, especially considering that Stories are only displayed to followers and have an expiration time. So for those who don’t feel like their Feed posts get seen, well…keep trying?
Mosseri did hint at the potential for users to be able to schedule their Stories, however, due to many requests by users to be able to do that. Will a new way to manage Stories make any difference to you Feed posts? Remains to be seen.
Image via Instagram
