The End of Snapchat? Instagram Now Lets You Create ‘Stories’

Sure, by now you've probably got all your friends and their mamas to follow you on Snapchat and were not even considering dropping your snap addiction anytime soon; but just in case downloading, screenshotting, and juggling on platforms to re-post was becoming too much of a drag, Instagram has just upped the game introducing their own Intagram Stories.  

The new feature lets you share quick snaps rolled out in a slideshow that only lasts for 24 hours – just like Snapchat. And, probably because they know how obsessed, borderline OCD with our profile pictures we are, the new shots will not affect our neat profile grids, as they will show up at the top of your feed.

The platform recently changed their algorithm, which used to be chronological, to allow most popular content to show up first on your feed. Now the ‘stories bar’ will let you see the actual stories you want to see, not just the gazillion photos from the one influencer you follow.

Although it doesn't seem to have been activated in Egypt yet, the company announced it will be rolling out globally over the next few weeks on iOS and Android. The features they offer are pretty much the same as Snapchat: you can add text and drawing on top of the image, swiping to jump to another person’s story, and there are no likes or public comments; you can just tap and send a private message to that person on Instagram Direct. We're not sure the move will get off off the all-time favourite vice of taking selfies with filters that actually make us look pretty, but we'll probably be happy to juggle social media platforms yet one more time - we're dying to see their filters anyway.

 

Today, we’re introducing Instagram Stories, a new feature that lets you share all the moments of your day, not just the ones you want to keep on your profile. As you share multiple photos and videos, they appear together in a slideshow format: your story. With Instagram Stories, you don’t have to worry about overposting. Instead, you can share as much as you want throughout the day — with as much creativity as you want. You can bring your story to life in new ways with text and drawing tools. The photos and videos will disappear after 24 hours and won’t appear on your profile grid or in feed. You’ll see stories from people you follow in a bar at the top of your feed — from your best friends to your favorite popular accounts. When there’s something new to see, their profile photo will have a colorful ring around it. To view someone’s story, just tap on their profile photo. It’s easy to view stories at your own pace: tap to go back and forward or swipe to jump to another person’s story. If you want to comment on something you see, you can tap and send a private message to that person on Instagram Direct. Unlike regular posts, there are no likes or public comments. Your story follows the privacy settings of your account. If you set your account to private, your story is visible only to your followers. However, you can also easily hide your entire story from anyone you don’t want to see it, even if they follow you. When watching your own story, swipe up to check out who’s seen each photo and video. You can even choose to feature a particular part of your story by posting it on your profile. Instagram has always been a place to share the moments you want to remember. Now you can share your highlights and everything in between, too. Instagram Stories will be rolling out globally over the next few weeks on iOS and Android. To learn more, check out help.instagram.com.

A video posted by Instagram (@instagram) on Aug 2, 2016 at 7:00am PDT