This morning when I woke up my entire Snapchat was filled with people talking about about Instagram Stories. Are you following? Yesterday Instagram revealed a new function with the latest update, and well, you’ve guessed it – it’s a near perfect match to the increasingly popular Snapchat stories function. Stories, which are available on Android and iOS, are essentially EXACTLY the same as Snapchat. Does this mean we’ve all reached peaked Snapchat?? Is this the end of Snapchat as we know it? Hell, I was totally apposed to the idea of watching live stories on my Instagram first thing this morning, and now after having a play around with it I actually kiiiinda like it. It looks asectically pleasing, as we would expect from Insta, it’s pretty nice having everything neatly in one app – pictures, live stories, boomerangs etc – AND you don’t have to re add people on Snapchat either, they’re already in your Instagram ready and waiting. OK, so we might be sold – even though it’s just another way to distract ourselves from real life. Here’s how to use the Instagram stories.
What even is this Instagram Stories madness?!
To navigate yourself around Instagram stories, first you have to update the app. You can do this on settings. Once you’ve done this, hop back onto the app and hey presto you’re good to go.
Where is everything?
If your profile is public, so are your stories, so if the people you follow have public profiles then that means there story will appear onto of your Instagram feed in little circles. It looks pretty, FYI.
How do I watch other people’s Instagram stories?
You simply click on the circle of their face. Easy. But if you CBA with scrolling through, search for whoever’s story you want to watch (like you would when you want to look at their Instagram profile) and then click on their profile picture.
How do I post my own Instagram story?
You click on the plus button in the circle on the top left hand corner, then a screen that looks a lot like Snapchat appears – so you know what to do. You can write over your story, make the writing different colours and even go wild and make it look like lights. Fancy.
How can I view my own story?
The same way you would look at someone else, go onto your profile and click on your profile picture to see your own.
Can I hide my stories from people?
You sure can – go onto your Instagram settings and click ‘story settings,’ then ‘hide story from.’ The rest is pretty self explanatory, just write the name of the person you want to hide your stories from.
Can I save my stories?
Of course you can, just like you would on Snapchat. Press the three little dots on the right hand bottom corner, then click ‘save photo.’ You can also share it to your Instagram feed, if you fancy.
Can I see how many people have watched it?
Again, yes. When watching your own story, at the bottom a number will appear with the amount of views it’s had. You can swipe this up to see what people have watched.
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**Gemma Styles: ‘Why Your Perfect Instagram Is A Big Fat Lie’ **
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Follow Alyss on Twitter @alyssbowen
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.