Instagram Stories: can I tell you a story?

 Instagram stories tell what's not "worth" getting into the app's regular feed. And they are extremely interesting.

For the past 3 months, Instagram has added a new feature: stories. Instead of carefully selected and filtered photos, you can post as many photos and videos as you want completely spontaneously. All material, however, disappears after 24 hours. If you were already using Snapchat, something like this will be familiar to you. If not, read on to see how it works.

What are Instagram Stories

Stories are temporary videos or photos that form a collection that (could) tell a story. Until now, users have been choosing their best moments to post on Instagram, and with super filters and effects. But with Stories, things become even more immediate, everyday and simple, as the user chooses to upload more material and almost without much editing.

In essence, they upload photos that are not "good enough" for the Instagram feed. Precisely because they are "silly" they disappear in 24 hours, automatically.

How to make your own stories

To create your own Instagram story, follow these steps:

• Make sure you have the latest version of Instagram.
• If not, download it from the App Store.
• Press the button with the addition symbol at the top left of the home screen or drag left.
• Tap the circle in the centre to take photos or tap and hold to take videos.
• Edit the photo or video by adding text or an emoji. There are three types of pens to choose from and several colours too.
• Tap Done to save your story.
• Press the button with the check mark to share your story.

If you want to add more than one photo or video so that the story plays like a slideshow, repeat the steps as many times as needed.

In addition to the photos you're taking at that moment, you can also use all the recent photos on your phone (from the last 24 hours). Instead of pressing the round button, pull down and select the one you want.

Available for 24 hours

The photos and videos you choose for your story will be available for viewing within the next 24 hours. A colourful circle will appear around your profile photo to show your followers that you have a new story.

Of course, stories can be removed by the user before the 24 hours have passed. Click on the three dots at the bottom right and select delete and confirm.

There are also filters

It's not as impressive as on "normal" Instagram but there is the option to add filters. After taking a photo or video, swipe to the right to select. There are seven filters currently but more will be added in the future.

Add colourful text

To add colour to your text, click the text icon at the top right of the screen and tap the colour of your choice. Drag to the right to reveal more color options.

Make everything colourful

Don't want to share a photo but need a background for text? Take any photo and go to the drawing tool. Select the color and then place your finger on the photo. Keep it there. The color will fill in until the entire photo is covered.

See the stories of your friends

Navigating the Stories is very easy. Just swipe right to go to the next one or left to go to the previous one. Tap to skip a photo or video. You can pause the stream by tapping and holding.

Mute specific people

If you don't want to see the stories of specific people in the lineup, make them disappear. Long tap and hold on their round profile icon and select "Hide user's story".

Muting doesn't hide the story completely, it just moves it to the end of the series and also doesn't automatically open it when you watch the rest of the stories. If you want to reset it, press and hold the icon again and unmute it.

Hide your own stories

You can choose who can and cannot see your stories. Go to your profile and tap the sun symbol in the top right (or the three dots, if you have Android).

Select Story Settings and tap Hide Story From. Those selected will be able to see your regular feed but not the Stories.

There are no comments on the stories but messages

You can send a message to the user directly from their story. At the bottom, in the left corner of the screen, you will see "Send Message". This only works, however, for those who have comments enabled.

If you also want to prevent messages, go to your profile and tap the sun symbol in the top right-hand corner of the screen again. In Story Settings, choose what you want: to allow replies to messages from your followers, from followers you follow, or from no one.

Save temporary photos forever

If you don't want to lose the photos after 24 hours, you can download them to your phone. Open your story and tap the three dots at the bottom right. Then tap Save photo. From the same menu, you can also share the photo or video as a post.

See who sees your stories

Are you curious to see who is looking at your stories? There are no likes here, only views. Open the story and drag the screen upwards. You will see a list of all the names of the users who viewed it. This information is only visible to you.

Attention! Instagram Stories are highly addictive!

Read also: "How to become a master at shooting Bokeh without iPhone 7 Plus"

From mirelen