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Instagram Launches 'Stories' And It's Very Similar To Snapchat

CEO admits Snapchat deserves 'all the credit'.
Instagram wants you to share your highlights and 'everything in between'.
Instagram
Instagram wants you to share your highlights and 'everything in between'.

Popular photo-sharing platform Instagram has taken a leaf out of Snapchat's book and launched 'Instagram Stories' -- a new feature designed to make it easy for users to share "all the moments of your day, not just the ones you want to keep on your profile".

Photos and videos shared using Stories remain visible for a 24-hour period, don't appear on your actual profile, and the reactions and conversations they initiate stay private. You can jazz up your posts with text and drawing tools and, when you share multiple photos and/or videos, they appear in a slideshow format.

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.

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In short, it's exactly like Snapchat Stories, and Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom is totally fine with it.

"They [Snapchat] deserve all the credit," Systrom told Josh Constine of TechCrunch.

"When you are an innovator, that's awesome. Just like Instagram deserves all the credit for bringing filters to the forefront. This isn't about who invented something. This is about a format, and how you take it to a network and put your own spin on it.

"Facebook invented feed, LinkedIn took on feed, Twitter took on feed, Instagram took on feed, and they all feel very different now and they serve very different purposes. But no one looks down at someone for adopting something that is so obviously great for presenting a certain type of information."

Instagram Stories: just like Snapchat, but... no wait. It's just like Snapchat.
Instagram
Instagram Stories: just like Snapchat, but... no wait. It's just like Snapchat.

The 'certain type of information' Systrom is likely referring to here is the type of stuff not typically shared on Instagram, which, with its photo-based format and introduction of flattering filters, tends to be used as a vehicle for prettier images, rather than the warts-and-all approach from Snapchat.

But as outlined in Instagram's recent blog post, Stories aims to capture those not-so-pretty moments and encourage users to share your highlights and everything in between, too."

While many are cool with Instagram (and therefore, Facebook) ripping off Snapchat's stories feature, not everyone is as forgiving.

Instagram Stories will be rolling out globally over the next few weeks on iOS and Android. To learn more, check out the Help Center.

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