Instagram is developing a new feature that could give its application a more tiktok – like feeling, a new feature that could cause confusion among users of its app.
Stories are already set to a vertical format, but the vertical feed requires users to search Instagram Stories by swiping them in the same way as a TikTok feed. The potential new feature allows the user to touch the feed, swipe horizontally, pan horizontally across the feed, and swipe left and right, right and left.
If approved, a vertical TikTok-style interface could make Instagram Stories more accessible to a wider range of users than the current vertical feed. In that feed, Instagram would prioritize video posts and photos over images, though it is currently tweaking its algorithms and general designs to prioritize roles. It would also focus on videos and posts, rather than on photos it had previously focused on.
Still, not only would it be an important step for Instagram to turn Instagram stories into vertical feeds, it could also set a precedent for other social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, whose Stories segments are still regularly filled with photos and shredded feed posts. With all these things in mind, transforming Instagram Stories into a Vertical Feed would also be one of the most noticeable changes to the user interface of Instagram in recent years, as it can actually lead to a shift in user experience for the feed.
If Instagram Stories is actually reformatted into a vertical feed, where will the most important posts and videos on the platform go? Since Instagram already had the answer to TikTok in the app, and since Vertical is cool for mobile recording and uploading, you might wonder if existing video assets can be reused to meet the IGTV standard. If Instagram Stories are vertical style videos, then there is no need to include a vertical style feed for Stories, as it has already been reformatted.
Although Instagram has stated that “the vertical structure of stories should remain a prototype,” it is conceivable that this should or should not be made public and represents a potential.
The company has confirmed it is working on a prototype until the code is discovered and could soon introduce vertical feed stories. As our source noted, Instagram is already testing video messages about photos before it introduces the Vertical Stories feed, so they might introduce them quickly. Companies have shown they can go unnoticed, but Instagram could soon introduce vertical feeds of stories.