Instagram have just launched their own version of one of Snapchat’s biggest features

Conor Heneghan

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

It can be hard to keep up with everything in the world of social media these days, but what we do know is that the ‘stories’ feature on Snapchat has been one of its most popular features for quite some time.

So popular is it, in fact, that another major social media player, Instagram, have decided to take the idea and make it their own and they’re not even bothered to change the name either.

On Tuesday, Instagram introduced Instagram Stories, “a new feature that lets you share all the moments of your day, not just the ones you want to keep on your profile”.

The explanation of the new feature continues: “As you share multiple photos and videos, they appear together in a slideshow format: your story.”

So, just like Snapchat stories, right?

If the description doesn’t sound very familiar, then the accompanying video only further illustrates how similar to Snapchat stories Instagram’s feature actually is, right down to the ability to illuminate stories with text, drawings, emojis etc.

Today, we’re introducing Instagram Stories, a new feature that lets you share all the moments of your day, not just the ones you want to keep on your profile. As you share multiple photos and videos, they appear together in a slideshow format: your story. With Instagram Stories, you don’t have to worry about overposting. Instead, you can share as much as you want throughout the day — with as much creativity as you want. You can bring your story to life in new ways with text and drawing tools. The photos and videos will disappear after 24 hours and won’t appear on your profile grid or in feed. You’ll see stories from people you follow in a bar at the top of your feed — from your best friends to your favorite popular accounts. When there’s something new to see, their profile photo will have a colorful ring around it. To view someone’s story, just tap on their profile photo. It’s easy to view stories at your own pace: tap to go back and forward or swipe to jump to another person’s story. If you want to comment on something you see, you can tap and send a private message to that person on Instagram Direct. Unlike regular posts, there are no likes or public comments. Your story follows the privacy settings of your account. If you set your account to private, your story is visible only to your followers. However, you can also easily hide your entire story from anyone you don’t want to see it, even if they follow you. When watching your own story, swipe up to check out who’s seen each photo and video. You can even choose to feature a particular part of your story by posting it on your profile. Instagram has always been a place to share the moments you want to remember. Now you can share your highlights and everything in between, too. Instagram Stories will be rolling out globally over the next few weeks on iOS and Android. To learn more, check out help.instagram.com.

A video posted by Instagram (@instagram) on Aug 2, 2016 at 7:00am PDT

There are small and subtle differences – Instagram stories can only include previously taken pictures within 24 hours, while Instagram users can tap to go back and forward through the images in a story and swipe to jump to another person’s story.

Unlike regular posts, there are no likes or public comments and you’ll know who has a story on their accounts because their profile picture will have a colourful ring around it.

You can find about more about Instagram’s new feature here, but if you’re a regular Snapchat user, then you’ll probably find that it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.