Instagram is adding the ability to leave comments on Instagram Stories, the ephemeral posts that many people use even more than traditional posts these days.
Previously, replying to an Instagram Story sent a private message visible only to the person who posted the content. The addition of comments adds a more public way to respond to Stories. The ability to comment in the first place is more limited, though: only people who follow the poster and who the poster follows back will be able to leave a comment. Instagram explains how most of it works in this video.
Just like Stories, the comments are temporary and will last for up to 24 hours; Instagram spokesperson Emily Norfolk says users will have the option to turn comments on or off for any Story they share. It’s not clear whether comments will be archived after a Story post expires, but we’ve asked Instagram for clarification.
Instagram has steadily added new features to surfaces like Reels and Stories that seem to suggest the company views them as key places for user engagement with friends, not just casual content meant to be scrolled through.
Earlier this summer the platform added disappearing “notes” (essentially comments) to grid posts and Reels, meant to draw more attention to how your friends are engaging with content. Those disappearing notes expire after three days, and users can choose who’s able to see their notes — either mutual follows, or a curated list of close friends. Temporary notes are overlaid on top of the post, making comments from friends more prominent.
Instagram also announced today that some likes on posts will now appear more prominently as floating hearts, similar to how they appear on the disappearing notes.