Instagram Now Lets You Leave Public Comments on Stories

Instagram now allows users to leave public comments on other’s Stories which will be visible to everyone for 24 hours.

In a Threads post published on Tuesday, Instagram announced that it is rolling out comments for Stories.

Previously, Instagram users could directly send messages to anyone who posted a Story, and these messages would appear in the recipient’s DMs.

But now comments on Stories will be visible to everyone, similar to comments on a regular Instagram post. Just like stories, comments will disappear after 24 hours.

However, users can still choose to offer the option for direct messages based on their preferences.

Story posters can decide whether to enable or disable comments for any individual post on their Stories. If enabled, anyone who views the Story can see the comments, but only mutual followers can leave a comment.

Small profile images of Instagram users who have commented will appear beneath a person’s Story icon, allowing viewers to see that comments are attached before tapping to view the Story.

The new feature appears to be influenced by Instagram user behavior. TechCrunch notes that Instagram head Adam Mosseri has previously commented that the Stories format is one of the app’s most popular features, often used more than posting content to the main feed. Additionally, many users prefer private messaging, as it allows them to engage more intimately within closed groups of friends.

In the last month, Instagram has rolled out several new features designed to increase engagement on the platform.

Last week, Instagram introduced new tools that let users add text to photos and layer images together. Instagram announced that it would be adding several new creative options to give users more ways to express themselves with their photos and carousels.

Instagram also recently revealed that it would now let users share up to 20 photos and videos in a single grid post.

In 2017, Instagram added the ability for users to post up to 10 photos or videos in one carousel post — something which became informally known as a “photo dump.” This announcement means that Instagram has doubled the number of photos and videos users can share in a carousel post.