Instagram stories is one of the most popular features on the app and as of last year, about 500 million- half of Instagram users- interacted with stories on a daily basis.
The company is now testing a feature that will allow users to see more stories at a go on the home screen and introducing a new stories only experience.
In the test, you will now see two rows of stories instead of the one row that appears when you open the Instagram. Beneath the expanded stories, there will also be a button you can click to “see all stories”
This will then launch a full screen stories experience where you can view and scroll through all available stories from other users.
The feature is currently being tested with just a small number of users. Facebook has not revealed any more details except for the fact that the test has been ongoing for about a month now.
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The popularity of the ‘stories’ product has made it increasingly important to Facebook advertisers. In quarter 3 of 2019, Facebook noted that out of their 7 million advertisers, 3 million were using the Facebook, Messenger and Instagram stories. That number grew to 4 million by Quarter 4 of the same year.
With such yields, Facebook introduced customized templates to cater to the advertisers needs. Business can upload photos and videos, then choose their desired layouts, colours and text options to make their stories more appealing and attract more engagement. Businesses can also buy ads across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger all at once.
In Quarter 1 of 2020, Facebook reported that the total number of ad impressions had grown by 39 percent due to increased engagement on the product feeds and stories. The company however, noted that stories ads monetize at a lower rate compared to ads on the feed, although this is set to change with many advertisers migrating to stories.
Once Instagram launches the full screen, scrollable stories on the app, the stories feature is likely to attract more daily users resulting in more advertisers.
“We’re always testing new ways to improve the Instagram experience for our community,” a Facebook company spokesperson said.
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