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Instagram takes on Snapchat with ephemeral ‘Stories’ feature

Instagram, the photo-sharing app you use to distribute tastefully curated photos of your brunch in an elaborate ruse to pretend your life is fine, just shamelessly swiped Snapchat’s concept in the form of “Stories”. Whereas on Snapchat users build networks with whom they share their stories, on Instagram, all your followers will see your stories unless you de-select them from doing so.

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“To view someone’s story, just tap on their profile photo”, Instagram added. If you want to comment on a story you have seen, you can send a private message to the poster. In fact, Instagram has 500 million monthly active users, 300 million daily actives and now 250 million users on its direct messaging feature.

Instagram Stories will roll out to Android and iOS users around the globe in the coming weeks.

Don’t count on stories to capture your trips and adventures forever, though: Stories will disappear after 24 hours. To upload a photo or video, swipe down on the screen and choose the one you want to upload.

Instagram has always been a place to share the moment you want to remember”, said an Instagram press release.

Instagram account settings allow users to dictate whether stories should be viewable only by followers, and opt to hide them from some. More than 80 percent of Instagram users are outside the United States.

Instagram justifies the need for the Stories section by saying that it’s a tool that would prevent users from overposting, as they can share as much as they want. Stories shared on public accounts will be visible to all users.

Instagram doesn’t seem too concerned that people are calling them out for the copycat.

Snapchat introduced Stories this morning. Simply tapping on someone’s profile photo will let you see that person’s newly posted story. Here’s everything you know about Instagram’s latest update!

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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.

Instagram Stories Rips Off Snapchat