Instagram is making a feature previously only for influencers available to anyone
Have you ever posted a Story on Instagram, wanting to direct your pals and followers to another link (perhaps to a banging recipe or a GoFundMe page), only to remember that you need a pesky 10,000 followers to use the 'Swipe Up' button? It's a classic and frustrating tale that we've become all too familiar with.
So, we were naturally pretty chuffed to hear that the top dogs at Instagram are shaking things up and answering our social media prayers. Yep, 'tis true: prepare to finally say farewell to the 'Swipe Up' link and say hello to link sticker – Instagram's new feature that will make your online life so much simpler (and is set to level the playing field between influencers and those of us with, err, significantly less followers).
The new initiative will allow people without 10,000 followers to directly link articles, blog posts, you name it, in their Stories, by using a tappable sticker that will take people to an external website. The link sticker will also be accessible when people comment on Stories too, something which is not available in the current 'Swipe Up' model.
The feature, which rolls out on 30 August, has been created in order to "streamline the Stories creation experience" and offer more "creative control," Vishal Shah, Instagram’s former head of product, told The Verge.
Shah says that the stickers also fit better with the way that people currently use the platform and that the goal is to widely roll out the feature.
Users will now begin to receive notifications about the change on the social media site, with a message reading: "Swipe up links will soon be stickers. Starting August 30, swipe up links will go away. To add a link to your story, use the new link sticker."
While we'll be sad to see the 'Swipe Up' link go, (not going to lie, we were really looking forward to finally using the 'Swipe Up' GIFS when we finally reached super-mega-influencer status) we can't wait to finally be able to share all our favourite links on the social media site.
Cheers, Instagram!
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