Instagram is reportedly working on a new feature that would allow users to access older stories from their connections that they may have overlooked during the initial 24 hours. According to recent reports, the Meta-owned platform is experimenting with a functionality that would enable users to view Story Highlights from mutual followers for up to a week after their posting. This feature is set to apply exclusively to those stories that the original poster has designated as Highlights. Currently, the rollout of this option is limited to a select group of testers.
Instagram Exploring Updates to Story Highlights
A report by TechCrunch indicates that Instagram has begun showing certain users unseen Story Highlights from accounts they follow. A spokesperson from Meta has confirmed that the testing of this new feature is underway. The feature was initially identified by social media analyst Ahmed Ghanem.
This upcoming feature will permit users to revisit unseen Story Highlights from the previous week. These will be accessible at the end of the Story tray, situated at the top of the user’s feed. Users will only have the opportunity to access the older Story Highlights after they have viewed the current stories in their feed. In cases where users have an abundance of stories from their network, they may miss out on the older Highlights entirely if they do not reach the end of the current updates.
Importantly, this feature will include only those Story Highlights that the original poster has saved to their profile as a Highlight. Standard older stories that vanish after 24 hours will not be part of this feature. This initiative is anticipated to help users stay more informed about updates from their social circles, particularly in light of the increasing prevalence of sponsored posts and other content online.
Testing is currently limited to a small cohort, but plans are in place for broader availability to all Instagram users worldwide in the near future.
In addition, Instagram has recently introduced a scheduling feature for direct messages, allowing users to organize text-only messages over DMs. This capability is now available on both iOS and Android devices.
