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Wondering why your friends’ faces are now hanging out at the top of your Instagram feed? Well, it’s not a glitch! The app just released Instagram Stories. This new feature is a big step for Instagram—but is it also a huge rip-off of Snapchat? 

According to BuzzFeed, Instagram Stories plays “host to photos and video that don’t live in your main feed.” They’re sources of temporary posts made by the people (and pets!) you follow. If you use the feature to post to Instagram, then your content will only be up for 24 hours.

How It Works

There are five Stories spaces across the top of your normal Instagram feed. These will always be occupied by your besties, celeb crushes and whoever else receives most of your likes and comments. Viewing their updates allows you to access the Stories of the rest of the accounts you follow. After 24 hours, they vanish. 

Creating your own Story is super simple. The feature has a full-screen camera that allows you to see more of the shot you’re trying to capture. You can snag a shot by tapping the button at the bottom of your screen. For video, all you’ll need to do is hold down that same button and release when you’ve got your footage. Just a quick tap will post unedited content to your Story. BuzzFeed says that the feature offers the ability to add words and emojis and “three drawing tools with which you can paint, add highlight colors or add neon hues to your shots,” so, if you’d rather add pizazz before you post, Stories has you covered! 

Why It Feels Familiar

The first time you use Stories, you might find yourself in a complete state of social media confusion. That’s because the concept is something we’ve already known and *adored* for years. Like Snapchat, Stories makes it possible for users to post their “raw experiences” in a disappearing fashion. It also creates the same quick, casual experience that you’re used to having with Snap Stories. 

Instagram claims that it isn’t trying to copy Snapchat. Instead, Stories is supposed to keep your main feed from becoming too bulky. The app wants you to feel more comfortable with posting multiple times throughout the day. Although many apps adopt the features that have made other apps successful (Twitter’s hashtags, Facebook’s feed, etc.), creating a non-Snap Story will definitely take some getting used to.

Have you used Instagram’s Stories feature? How do you feel about it?

Photo credit: Vulcan Post.

by Megan Sawey | 8/7/2016