Instagram now lets you comment on stories

I have great news for you all: you can now leave comments on Instagram Stories.

Previously, responders had only three options to express their intense desire in a story post: liking the story with a heart, reacting with an emoji (🔥), or replying in a private DM. They felt disadvantaged, begged, and put down. How can you get a good response if there are only three ways to request a response?

Thankfully, Instagram is mindful of its users’ needs. For private accounts, anyone who the poster follows can leave a comment. And for public accounts, anyone who the poster follows can comment, regardless of whether they follow them or not. Comments are temporary, like the story itself, but they are public and users can save them by saving the story post as a highlight.

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Beyond the focus on replies, it makes sense for Instagram to add features to Stories. Fewer and fewer users are on Grid, and more are flocking to Instagram Stories and Reels. So providing more ways to drive engagement on Stories and Reels is probably a smart business strategy. This change will encourage users to spend more time on the app.

This feature is still being rolled out, so don’t worry if you don’t see it yet. If you see it and want to turn it off, you can turn it off by going to your Settings & Activity page, scrolling down to “How others interact with you,” clicking “Comments,” and turning the Stories setting on or off.