Long before Facebook bought them out, Instagram was always a place to just share photos and go a little ham on hashtags. Eventually, short videos and loops from Boomerang were introduced, and the questionable choice of knocking your feed out of chronological order happened, but the original concept remained more or less the same. That is, until this week.
Instagram 9.0.1 introduced “Instagram Stories” to the app you know and love on Tuesday. Stories, you say? Why does that sound so familiar…?
Instagram describes their stories as “a new feature that lets you share all the moments of your day, not jus 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.”
There’s no hiding the similarities between Instagram Stories and Snapchat Stories. (Uh, it’s even in the name.) You can watch stories from the people you follow by clicking their icon at the top of your homepage, there are no likes or public comments, and you can see who’s viewed your story.
Will Instagram Stories take away any of Snapchat’s popularity? Combining it with Instagram’s existing platform of photo sharing gives it a leg up over Snapchat’s available features. Celebrities are already taking to it, remarking on the fact that you can add more text and the filters are fun and new. Only time will tell.