Instagram Stories, a feature rolled out by the picture-sharing service back in August that very closely resembles the similarly named Snapchat Stories feature of the messaging app, can now be found under Instagram's Explore tab.
Through Instagram Stories, users can post images and videos to their profile that would automatically be removed after 24 hours. This allows for the uploading of more casual posts that will not be permanently be attached to the user's Instagram account.
Through a blog post, Facebook-owned Instagram said that with the feature coming to the Explore tab of the service, it will be much easier for users to discover stories that they would want to watch.
According to the blog post, there are over 100 million users visiting the Explore section daily to discover pictures and videos uploaded by people that they are not yet following. A new part of the Explore tab will show suggested Instagram Stories from across the global community of the service, with the suggestions to be based on the user's interest similar to how the rest of the section works.
Previously, users were only able to see the Instagram Stories uploaded by people that they are already following on the service. This will no longer be the case, as the Explore page will not be showing small circles with usernames below them for suggested Instagram Stories, which can be viewed through a simple tap.
Instagram Stories, while similar with Snapchat Stories, has a few significant differences. Snapchat users have access to the popular filters, and can store content over the long term through the Memories feature. Instagram, meanwhile, has a big advantage over Snapchat through the Explore tab, as it allows the picture-sharing service to offer its users with discovery options.
Snapchat users, have no means to check out popular accounts, as they are only able to add other users through their phone number, username or QR code. The lack of a discovery feature, as explained by Snapchat, is because the app was primarily designed to be a communications app. If Snapchat will not offer such a feature, Instagram is more than happy to do so.
Pushing Instagram Stories into the top of the Explore tab will only further drive up the feature's successful numbers. It was reported earlier in October that it took only two months for Instagram Stories to reach a daily user base of 100 million, which is about two-thirds of the daily user base of the main Instagram service of 150 million.
