Instagram May Soon Prevent Users from Sharing Feed Posts Within Stories, Hide Like-Counts

Instagram in 2020 added a host of new features to improve its reach among users, but it appears that the Facebook-owned social media platform now wants to clean up an already cluttered interface. Last week, Instagram began sending out a notification to select users that notes that the platform is testing a change to “Sharing to Stories.” As a part of the update, users won’t be able to share feed posts on Stories that many upcoming creators do to expand their reachability (due to Instagram’s algorithm favouring friends and family). It is important to remember that Instagram is only testing this feature, and it is likely that the company may not implement the change altogether.

The development was shared by social media expert Matt Navarra who attached the screenshot of Instagram‘s new update in a tweet. The notification notes, “We hear from our community that they want to see fewer feed posts in stories. During this test, you won’t be able to add a feed to your post.” Notably, Navarra is a separate post highlights that Instagram may soon allow users to hide Like-counts on their personal feeds.

Instagram has not exactly clarified whether users can share other users’ posts on Stories, though it appears that the change applies to all feeds on the platform. Interestingly, Twitter will soon allow users to share their tweet on Instagram via Story that would still increase the volume of Stories on the Facebook-owned platform on a daily basis. While some users may welcome this change as this limits spamming on the platform, professional and upcoming creators will probably have to find new ways to reach out to a wider audience, if the change comes to action.

Instagram in a statement to Social Media Today said that the change is currently being tested within a few selected regions. “We’ve seen from research that people prefer to see original photos and videos in Stories from the people they care about. The goal of our test is to better understand how people feel about this type of content and ultimately improve the Stories experience,” the company adds. It appears that Instagram wants users to have two separate posts for Stories and the Home feed.

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