Instagram has been testing approaches to feature reshared feed presents on Stories. In some markets Instagram disabled resharing posts to Stories, and it also started displaying a “Reshared” label on Stories. It’s still not done with this experiment as a new “Reshare” sticker is now in the works.
Instagram is testing another Reshare sticker that can be used in Stories. Based on the discovery by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi (via Social Media Today), the sticker can be used on feed posts reshared to Stories. How the sticker will ultimately look isn’t known yet but the purpose is clear; Instagram wants to show that it’s a reshared post. This looks like another way for Instagram to discourage people from resharing posts. In its test where it disabled the feature, it said, “We hear from our community that they need to see fewer feed posts in stories. During this test, you will not have the option to add a feed post to your story.”
Instagram also displayed the “Reshared Post” name just below the username on Stories yet this didn’t appear to have any effect. Instagram removing the capacity to reshare posts will most likely receive a lot of backlash from users. It may negatively impact some users especially creators and businesses wanting to grow their presence on the app. It may also affect users wanting to support other businesses or accounts by sharing their posts to stories.
Paluzzi spotted another Instagram feature in testing, and that is a possibility for uses to plan live recordings. Instagram Live has also seen an uptick since the time the pandemic spread a year ago. It has since added support for four peoples in a live meeting, and as of late began allowing users to turn off their sound and video.
