Late on Tuesday night, Facebook honcho Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of a new feature, Instagram Stories, via a Facebook Post. The photo-sharing app also has celebrities like Serena Williams, Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas on board to promote the new feature.
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A new Instagram feature is bringing out the tech critic in many. Facebook has also tried to integrate many of Snapchat’s features in its own eco system as the company recently acquired MSQRD which is a successful photo filter company. The ephemeral messaging app is popular among teens and is considered a competitor to social media giant Facebook, which owns Instagram.
It seems that some loyal Snapchat users are venturing over to Instagram Stories – but only to share their Snapchat username and ask for more followers. “Instead, you can share as much as you want throughout the day – with as much creativity as you want”. In addition, the Stories section comes with text and drawing tools for enhancing images. Instagram now allows the users to share the moments of their day in a slide-show like format, which will not be a part of their profile, but a part of their “story”. When one of the people they follow posts something new, their profile photo will automatically get a colorful ring around it.
To view someone’s Instagram Story, you just tap on their profile photo. Viewers tap to move through a single story and swipe to jump between stories. If you want to respond to a friend’s story, you can do that, but your message will go to their inbox as Instagram Direct. Unlike normal Instagram posts, there are no likes or comments. Your story follows the privacy settings of your account. If your account is private, the Story will only be visible to your followers.
To create a story, you need to tap on the plus icon at the top left corner of the home screen, and then press the circle icon at the bottom of the screen to take a picture or record a video.
Instagram is known for being a place to share moments you want to remember, and this update is just another step in that direction.
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If you were to look at the above screenshot above, you would be inclined to assume that it’s from Snapchat, the mobile photo app that lets you share photos with your friends.
