Instagram may have taken inspiration for its popular Stories feature from Snapchat but it has left the latter far behind as far as sheer numbers go. Instagram Stories is now more popular than Snapchat and the Facebook-owned service continues to introduce new ways to get people to share more stories. The latest involves enabling users to share other people’s stories through Direct messages on Instagram.
Instagram launched location and hashtag stories in May this year so that they surfaced more frequently in Explore. This enabled the company to http://blog.instagram.com/post/165260573787/170912-sharing-stories-directhttp://blog.instagram.com/post/165260573787/170912-sharing-stories-direct for the feature.
The latest step is also along the same lines, though it might be a cause for concern for some users since Instagram is now enabling users to share other users’ stories through Direct messages.
Users just have to tap on the Direct icon at the bottom right when they’re viewing a story and they can then choose who they want to share the Story with. As is the case with all stories, they last for 24 hours only so if the recipient doesn’t check it before the time is up, they won’t be able to view it.
Instagram says that this feature will enable its users to share stories that they find interesting with other users. However, some users might not feel comfortable about the idea of letting other people share their stories with complete strangers.
For this reason, Instagram is offering an opt-out in settings. Nothing changes for those who have a Private account as their stories will only be visible to their followers through Direct messages.
Filed in . Read more about Instagram. Source: blog.instagram