Instagram is testing a new way to explore Stories by scrolling vertically. This new feature makes scrolling Instagram Stories similar to TikTok.
The new design was reported by social media analyst Matt Navarra. In a tweet on Twitter, Navarra revealed that several Instagram users in Turkey have received an update that brings vertical scrolling in Stories, as quoted from 9to5Mac, Saturday (15/1/2022).
Tech journalist Thássius Veloso has also received the same update in Brazil. Based on our observations, this feature has also visited several users in the world, which means that Instagram has rolled out this feature to many countries.
So what's different about this new way of scrolling Instagram Stories? Currently Instagram users have to tap the screen to move to another story of the same user, or swipe left to move to another user's story.
With this new method, Instagram users have to swipe up from the bottom to see other users' stories. To view other stories from the same user, simply tap on the screen or swipe horizontally on the screen.
Actually, the development of this feature has been confirmed by Instagram since February 2021. But it was only tested publicly this month.
This vertical scrolling method makes browsing Stories more like Instagram Reels. Reels itself is an Instagram feature designed to compete with TikTok which already offers vertical content first.
It is not yet known when vertical scrolling for Instagram Stories will be rolled out to all users.