Instagram Stories 101: A Comprehensive Guide

Instagram Stories are a fun and engaging way to share moments from your day with your followers. They disappear after 24 hours, making them a great way to share behind-the-scenes content or sneak peeks without cluttering your feed.

You can add photos, videos, and text to your Instagram Stories, and even use the "swipe-up" feature to drive traffic to your website or other social media channels. This feature is especially useful for businesses looking to increase website traffic.

Instagram Stories have become a crucial part of the platform, with over 500 million users checking them every day. This is a significant number, especially considering that many users don't even check their Instagram feed.

Instagram stories are a simple and easy way to upload, watch, and interact with the accounts you follow. They provide a realistic look into your friends and favorite accounts, giving you a direct connection with your followers.

You can use Instagram stories to explain your content, share behind-the-scenes moments, tell a story, and build your brand. Showing off your personality, life, thoughts, and experiences can make you more interesting and relatable to your audience.

Instagram stories are featured at the top of the app, making them a huge benefit for growing your blog or business and increasing your visibility.

They're not designed to bring in new followers, but rather to keep you top of mind with the ones you already have. Over 500 million people were creating and watching stories daily just two years after Instagram launched the feature in 2016.

One in three people became more interested in a brand or product after seeing it featured in a story on Instagram. This is a huge benefit for growing your blog or business.

Here are the benefits of using Instagram Stories:

You can run polls, add questions, share behind-the-scenes moments, or link directly to a product if you sell on Instagram. This makes your content more interactive and engaging for your audience.

Instagram Stories are a series of photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. They allow users to share behind-the-scenes moments and sneak peeks into their lives.

Each story can be up to 60 seconds long and can include text, emojis, and drawing tools. This feature makes it easy to add context and personality to your stories.

Instagram Stories were first introduced in 2016 as a way for users to share content that wouldn't be part of their permanent Instagram feed. This feature was a huge hit, with over 500 million users using it daily.

By using Instagram Stories, users can reach their audience in a more casual and authentic way, which can lead to increased engagement and brand loyalty.

Instagram Stories offer a variety of formats to keep your content fresh. You can create a Standard story, which is the default option, and add filters to your photos and videos.

There are five different Instagram Story types to play with. Here's a breakdown of the main options:

You can also add stickers, time stamps, and doodles to each Story, and apply certain filters and effects. Viewers can respond to your Story via direct message, like it, or share it with their followers.

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Instagram offers a range of story types to keep your content fresh and engaging. You can choose from five main types, including Standard, Create, Boomerang, and Hands-free.

The Standard type is the default option, where you can add filters to your photo or video. You can either create a story within the Instagram app or upload pre-made content.

Create mode lets you add text or stickers on a solid background, with a variety of fun fonts to choose from. This is a great way to pose a question, tell a story, or create a mini-blog within your Instagram Stories.

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Boomerang is a short video that plays forward and backward on a loop, adding a fun and dynamic touch to your story. Hands-free mode lets you record video without tapping and holding the record button.

If you want to add some extra flair to your Boomerang, you can use the Slow-mo effect to play it back at half speed. Alternatively, you can use the Echo effect to insert a motion blur on each frame.

Here are some additional story formats to consider:

The Duo effect adds a rewinding and glitchy effect to your post, while the Hands-free mode lets you record video without tapping and holding the record button.

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Different layouts can really make your Instagram Stories stand out. By default, Instagram uploads Stories in full screen.

You can change this layout to create posts featuring multiple photos. Tap “Layout” while editing your Story to access this feature.

It's a great option for showing off vacation highlights or product sneak peeks.

Curious to learn more? Check out: How to Use Layout on Instagram Stories

You can add various elements to your Instagram Story, such as stickers, time stamps, and doodles. These elements can help make your Story more engaging and fun to look at.

If your account is public, your Story is visible to anyone who visits your profile, but if your account is private, your Story is only visible to those who follow you.

Viewers can interact with your Story in a few ways, including directly responding to it via DM, liking it, or sharing it with their followers.

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Instagram Stories are a powerful tool for building loyalty and increasing engagement with your brand. Your followers will keep coming back to your Instagram account if you share relatable or interesting stories through a series of Insta Stories.

To boost engagement, consider using Instagram Story stickers, which can help humanize your brand and encourage interaction with your content. You can also use Instagram Story ads to reach a targeted audience and send people directly to your website or shop.

Posting frequently is key to keeping your image at the top of viewers' feeds, but be careful not to spam content – aim for one to seven Stories per day to find the sweet spot.

Using Instagram Story stickers can humanize your brand and encourage followers to keep coming back to your account.

By sharing true, relatable, or interesting stories, you can increase engagement and build loyalty with your audience.

Instagram Story ads can help small business owners reach a targeted audience and get more eyes on their brand.

These ads take up the whole screen, so your audience won't see other brand content or notifications.

You can save time on content creation by using existing stories saved in your highlights.

If you have an Instagram shop, you can use product links so users can purchase your products directly through the ad.

Captions, an all-in-one creative studio, can help you make appealing Stories that boost your brand image.

With Captions, you can simplify the video creation process and use AI to edit Instagram videos and generate subtitles.

By creating Stories at scale with Captions, you can stop spending hours refining footage.

Recommended read: Instagram Stories Ad

Posting frequently on Instagram is key to keeping your audience engaged.

The platform doesn't limit how many Instagram Stories you can post per day, so you have the freedom to experiment and find what works best for you.

Finding a balance between uploading regularly and spamming content is crucial, as too many posts can be overwhelming.

For most creators, anywhere from one to seven Stories seems to be the sweet spot.

You can add stickers to your Instagram Stories to make them more engaging and interactive.

You can use stickers in lots of different ways, such as adding text or GIFs to your boomerangs.

To add stickers, tap the stickers button (a smiley face on the top of the screen) to find customizable stickers for the weather, the current time, location, and more.

You can move stickers by dragging them across your screen and resize them by pinching or expanding them with two fingers.

Instagram has also launched new types of stickers, like the shop sticker and captions sticker, to help Instagrammers with professional and business accounts increase accessibility and keep their audience engaged.

You can add more than one sticker to a story to make it even more interesting.

Broaden your view: Insta Gram Stickers

You can add automated subtitles or transcripts to your Instagram stories by using the stories captions sticker, though this feature is currently only available in some languages and locations.

Captions are a game-changer for creating engaging Instagram stories. With a great editing app, you'll never worry about creating dynamic stories.

To add a drop shadow to your story's text, retyping or rewriting your text in a different color, such as black or white, can add emphasis to a bright color you've picked.

Check this out: Captions on Instagram Reels

Captions can make a big difference in how engaging your Instagram Stories are. You can add automated subtitles or transcripts to your stories by simply adding the stories captions sticker. This feature is currently only available in some languages and locations.

To create engaging Instagram Stories with captions, you can use a great editing app like Captions, an all-in-one creative studio that helps you make appealing Stories that boost your brand image. Our platform simplifies the video creation process, using AI to do everything from editing Instagram videos to generating subtitles.

Adding text to a Story is a great way to build on an image and promote a content offer or event. To do this, swipe up on your screen to add the screenshot to the next installment of your Story, and then add new text or stickers on top of the first photo.

Instagram Story stickers are a powerful tool for boosting engagement and humanizing your brand. By sharing true, relatable, or interesting stories through a series of Insta Stories, you can encourage your followers to keep coming back to your Instagram account and interacting with your content.

Remember to keep your text in the right spot on the screen. Don't add anything too high or too low in the frame, or it will be cut off when viewers scroll through your Story.

You can upload photos and videos from your mobile device's native camera roll to use as Instagram Stories.

To do this, open your Instagram Story's camera lens and tap the little square icon on the bottom lefthand corner.

This will call up your phone's native media gallery, where you can select any photo or video to publish as an Instagram Story.

It's a convenient way to share memories from your phone's camera roll with your followers.

For another approach, see: How to save Instagram Stories to Camera Roll

You can use Instagram Shopping to tag products directly in your stories, making it easy for customers to browse and purchase from your business. This feature is only available if you have Instagram Shopping set up for your business account.

If you have a cause you're passionate about, you can use the donation sticker to encourage donations within Instagram. People can tap the sticker and donate to the linked cause, making it a convenient way to give back.

A different take: How to Use Instagram Stories for Business

You can add clickable product icons to your Instagram Story using the shopping sticker, which is available if you have Instagram Shopping set up for your business account.

To showcase your product in an Instagram Story, post a long video segmented into 15-second clips that show users what your product or service does and how it helps your customers.

If you sell software, you might record a video of your computer screen using a tool like Loom that shows people how to log in, use the dashboard, and navigate to various functions.

Just remember to modify your video's dimensions before uploading it to your Instagram Story, as the image dimensions are 1920px high and 1080px wide, with an aspect ratio of 9:16.

A fresh viewpoint: Instagram Stories Video Quality

Donation is a way to give back to a good cause. The donation sticker on Instagram is an interactive way to encourage donations to a specific cause. People who tap the sticker can donate within Instagram to the linked cause.

Suggestion: Sticker Reels Instagram

You can save your favorite or most relevant Instagram Stories in a collection called a "Highlight". Highlights appear directly below your bio, so they're one of the first things your followers see when they go onto your profile.

To create a Highlight, tap the New circle located right underneath your bio to the left, then choose some Instagram Stories from your archive and give your highlight a name. You can have as many highlights as you like, and they will stay on your profile until you remove them.

Highlights are a great place to save important information, such as restaurant menus, product lists, or customer testimonials. You can also use them to share user-generated content, brand partnerships, or affiliate shopping links.

To edit or remove a highlight, just tap and hold that highlight on your profile. You can add stories to highlights at any time by going to Archive, opening the story, and tapping the Highlight button at the bottom of the screen.

For your interest: Instagram Profile Stories

To create Instagram Story Highlights, you need to have the Instagram Stories Archive feature turned on. This can be done in Settings > Story Settings > Save to Archive.

Take a look at this: How to Archive Stories on Instagram

You can add new Highlights by clicking the + New button on your profile, below your bio. Choose from archived and live stories to add to your highlighted stories.

Instagram Story Highlights are collections of saved Instagram Stories that live on a user's profile. They're a great way to introduce yourself to new followers and spotlight content you love.

To make a new Highlight, go to your profile page and click New or Story highlight. Customize your Highlight's name and save the content you want to bookmark.

Here's a step-by-step guide to creating your own Instagram Story Highlights:

1. Go to your profile page by tapping your profile photo located at the lower-right corner of your screen.

2. Tap the New circle located right underneath your bio to the left.

3. Choose some Instagram Stories from your archive and then tap the Next button on the top right corner of your screen.

4. Give your highlight a name.

5. Optional: Edit your highlight cover by either uploading an image from your phone's camera roll or choosing one of your highlighted stories.

You can have as many highlights as you like, and they will stay on your profile until you remove them.

On a similar theme: Instagram Stories New Features

Analytics can give you a deeper understanding of what works and what doesn't on your Instagram Stories. You can access your analytics for a specific story by tapping the story, then the 'Activity' icon on the lower-left corner of your screen.

You'll see how many followers and non-followers your story has reached, how people interacted with your story, how many Instagram Story views you received, and how many people followed you after viewing that story. This data can help you create more of the content your followers love.

To get more in-depth information, you can check out Buffer's Story analytics dashboard or Instagram Insights. Instagram Insights will give you a professional dashboard with metrics for your Instagram posts, including stories that have already expired.

Your stories will automatically be arranged by reach, from highest to lowest. Tap on a specific story to get more data, such as reach, likes, replies, shares, and more. This can help you identify which pieces of content are the most engaging.

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You can also use Instagram Stories Analytics to see which stories resonate most with your audience. For example, you can see the number of times a viewer taps right to go to your next story, the number of times a viewer taps the left side of the screen to rewatch the previous story, and the number of times a viewer swipes down to stop watching stories and go back to the main feed.

Here are some key metrics to look out for:

By analyzing these metrics, you can see what's working and what to change up. For example, if you notice that Mondays are a good day for engagement, you can plan your content accordingly.

Instagram releases unique Story stickers often, so it's a good idea to check the Stickers menu daily for new and timely stickers to add to your Story.

Open up the Stickers menu and tap on the camera icon to access the latest stickers.

Interactive content is a great way to engage your audience on Instagram. Interactive posts, like polls and challenges, directly invite people to engage with your profile, and high levels of activity tell the platform that people enjoy your uploads, so it'll push these posts to a broader audience.

You can use the quiz sticker to add an interactive, multiple-choice-type question to your stories, or the question sticker to ask your followers a question and see what they think. The question sticker can also be flipped to let your followers ask you a question, and create new stories where you answer them.

The poll sticker allows you to ask your followers a question, giving them four poll options to choose from, and you can easily share the results to your story too. You can use polls to ask viewers what kind of content they want to see in the future, or to share your latest YouTube video or lead magnet.

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Interactive content is a great way to boost engagement on Instagram. One way to do this is by sharing interactive posts, like polls and challenges, that directly invite people to engage with your profile.

These types of posts get a lot of traction and tell the platform that people enjoy your uploads, so it'll push them to a broader audience. Instagram's algorithm prioritizes uploads that get a lot of likes, shares, and clicks.

The quiz sticker is a fun way to add interactive content to your stories. It lets you add a multiple-choice-type question and see which ones get the right answer.

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Interactive content is a game-changer for social media engagement. It directly invites people to interact with your profile, which tells the algorithm that your content is engaging and worth sharing.

You can create interactive content on Instagram by using features like polls and challenges. These posts encourage likes, shares, and clicks, and can be used to ask followers what kind of content they want to see in the future.

Polls and questions are a great way to interact with your audience and understand their interests better. You can use the quiz sticker to add an interactive, multiple-choice-type question to your stories, or the poll sticker to ask followers a question with four options.

To make interactive posts, you can use the question sticker to ask followers a question, or the poll sticker to ask a question with four options. You can also use the question sticker to let followers ask you a question, and create new stories where you answer them.

Here are some ideas for interactive content:

Order is a crucial part of the interactive content experience. You can use Instagram's customizable shopping stickers to turn shopping into a single-click experience.

This feature allows you to input details like your item's description and price, and the platform will include this sticker in your Story. Any time viewers tap it, you'll receive an order request.

Using this feature may increase your overall sales, making it a valuable tool for businesses and entrepreneurs.

Interactive content is all about engaging your audience and driving traffic to your website or other social media handles. Links are a crucial part of this strategy, and Instagram Stories offers a variety of ways to add them.

The link sticker, which replaced the swipe-up feature in 2021, makes links highly visible and can be placed anywhere on your story. This change was good news for content marketers and small business owners, as it meant anyone could link to a website, regardless of their follower count.

To add a link to your Instagram Story, go to your sticker tray and tap the "link" sticker. Paste your link into the link field, and if you have a long URL, tap "Customize sticker text" to type in a shorter description.

You can change the color of your sticker, resize it, and drag it to the desired location on your story. If you need to remind your audience to access the linked content, you can suggest they "Swipe Up." However, keep in mind that you need at least 10,000 followers and a business account to access the swipe-up feature.

For more insights, see: Why Did Instagram Change Layout

Here's a quick summary of the steps to add a link to your Instagram Story:

Adding music to your interactive content can elevate the viewer's experience. You can turn on music using your phone's native streaming app and record a video Story.

To ensure your viewers can hear the music, make sure the sound icon isn't muted. If you'd rather your video be muted, tap the sound icon so a slash appears over it.

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You can share Instagram Stories in various ways, including showcasing a tutorial or how-to, tagging your favorite users, and sharing a special promotion that's only available for 24 hours.

Consistency is key on Instagram Stories, so try to share something every day. This will help you stay top of mind and offer an interesting point of view, personality, or behind the scenes look.

To share someone else's Story, tap the Direct icon on the bottom right of the Stories screen, choose the friend you want to share with, write a message, and tap Send.

Sharing photos you're tagged in is a great way to boost engagement and recognize those who are tagging you. You can do this by going to your Instagram activity and notifications, which is located at the bottom right of your screen.

To view your mentions, simply click on the heart icon and look for the "mentions" option at the top. From there, you can click to view your mentions and add a mention to your story.

To add a mention to your story, look for the "Add to your story" option at the bottom of the story. Clicking this will allow you to add a mention to your story, making it easy to share photos you're tagged in.

Sharing your content on Instagram can be a fun and creative process. You can showcase a tutorial or how-to, like sharing your night routine.

Consistency is key, so try to share something every day. This will help you stay top of mind and offer an interesting point of view.

Sharing a special promotion or sale is a great way to drive engagement. Since Instagram Stories only last for 24 hours, it's the perfect way to create a sense of urgency.

Tagging your favorite users is also a great way to connect with them and share your content. Just type "@" and their username to tag them.

You can share other people's Stories by tapping the Direct icon on the bottom right of the Stories' screen.

To share a Story, choose the friend you want to share with, write a message, and tap Send. The Story will come to your Direct inbox, but be quick - it will disappear after 24 hours.

If you don't want people to share your Stories, go to your Story camera, tap the Settings icon, and toggle Allow Sharing to Messages off.

You can also let viewers share your Stories by navigating to your app's settings, then to Privacy, and tapping Story.

Promoting a company event on Instagram can be a great way to connect with your followers. You can use the native text options in your Story to add the event's name, location, dates, booth number, and official hashtag.

To make it visually appealing, work with a graphic designer or create your own artwork to illustrate an event flyer. This will give your followers all the information they need to find you at the event.

You can add the event's details directly on Instagram, making it easy for your followers to find the information they need.

For example, Google Pixel used its Instagram Story to promote a customer video, and when you tap all the way to the end of the Story, it prompts you to swipe up and link to the full video on YouTube.

Here are the details you can add to your Instagram Story:

Sharing your Story with select followers is as easy as flipping a toggle. You can choose the "Close Friends" option before posting to share exclusive content with a trusted group.

Content creators often use this tool to share sneak peeks, test new content ideas, and update their loyal followers on their personal life.

To add or remove people from your Close Friends list, head to your profile settings – it's a convenient way to control who sees your exclusive content.

This feature is perfect for building a loyal following and creating a sense of exclusivity around your content.

Boomerangs and Live Video are two of Instagram's most exciting features for your Stories. You can create boomerangs, hands-free and live video, to mix things up on your Story.

To make a boomerang, you can simply go to your Story camera.

Hands-free video is also a great option if you want to capture a moment without holding your phone.

To make a live video, scroll among the options on the bottom and select the Live option.

You can title your Live video, schedule it, and set it to public or private with the options on the left.

A Live tag will pop up on your Instagram Stories bubble to alert followers when you go live.

You can schedule Instagram Stories in advance with tools like Later, which helps streamline your process and allows you to batch-upload content.

Consistency is key to social media, and posting stories at optimal times can maximize their reach.

Posting your story content a few times in one day and sharing photos and videos in bite-sized chunks can be effective.

Posting stories consistently is key to social media success, and the Instagram algorithm agrees. Consistency helps you maximize reach, especially since stories only last for 24 hours.

To post stories consistently, consider sharing your content in bite-sized chunks a few times in one day. This strategy helps keep your audience engaged and interested.

Your followers are most active on weekday afternoons, but there are other hotspots to take advantage of during the week. You can find out exactly when your audience is most active on Instagram from your Instagram Insights.

To discover your followers' most active times, tap on Professional dashboard on your profile, then tap New followers. Scroll down to the end to find your followers' most active times for each day of the week.

Here are some optimal times to post your stories:

Posting at these times increases the chances that your followers will see and engage with your content.

To grow your audience, posting Instagram Stories is a great way to start. We've already covered some hidden ways to take your Stories to the next level, and now it's time to put them into action.

Posting Instagram Stories can help you grow your audience by reaching a wider audience, increasing engagement, and providing a behind-the-scenes look at your brand or business.

By posting killer Instagram Stories, you can encourage your audience to follow you and keep them engaged with your content.

You can easily adjust the size of your stickers to fit your story perfectly. Just pinch the sticker to increase or decrease its size.

Changing the size of your stickers can make a big difference in how engaging your story is. You can make them larger to draw attention or smaller to create a more subtle effect.

To move your sticker around the frame, simply tap and drag it to the desired position. This gives you complete control over where your sticker appears in your story.

A 20% increase in reach is a pretty significant boost, and it's achievable by incorporating Instagram Stories into your social media campaigns.

To really grow with Instagram Stories, you need a solid strategy in place, as it's not just about spontaneously creating and sharing snippets of your life.

Using the Instagram stories algorithm to your advantage can help drive interactions with your followers. This means paying attention to viewing history and engagement.

Posting at certain times of the day can help your ranking, so experiment with different schedules to see what works best for your audience.

With Buffer, you can plan, preview, and schedule your Instagram Stories ahead of time, making it easier to manage your content.

Captions, an all-in-one creative studio, can help you create appealing Stories that boost your brand image with its AI-powered editing and video creation features.

Stop spending hours refining footage and create Stories at scale with Captions, simplifying the video creation process.

You can create your Instagram stories right on the app or use other tools to prep them ahead of time. However, keep in mind that Instagram's algorithm may limit reach for content with visible watermarks or logos from other apps.

If you want to schedule your stories in advance, you can use Buffer's notification publishing to set things up ahead of time. Then, make quick edits in the Instagram app before posting, like adding music or creating polls.

On a similar theme: Instagram Stories App

You can create your Instagram stories right on the app or use other tools to prepare them ahead of time. Just be aware that Instagram's algorithm may limit reach for content with visible watermarks or logos from other apps.

There are many creative features to help you get started, including the ability to schedule your stories in advance. You can use Buffer's notification publishing to set things up ahead of time, then make quick edits in the Instagram app before posting.

Captions is an all-in-one creative studio that helps you make appealing stories that boost your brand image. It uses AI to simplify the video creation process, from editing Instagram videos to generating subtitles.

Tapping into templates is a great way to create visually appealing Instagram stories. You can batch create them, making it easier to schedule your stories in advance and maintain brand consistency across your Instagram Reels and carousel posts.

Canva is just one of the many places where you can find free and great Instagram templates.

GIFs are a great way to add some fun and personality to your Instagram stories. They can help keep people interested and engaged with your content.

To add a GIF to your story, you'll need to start by creating an image or video, or using one that's already been created. Then, click on the smiley face "sticker" button on the top right corner of your screen.

Clicking on the "GIF" option will give you access to a library of trending GIFs, as well as the ability to search for a specific one that fits your story. This is a great way to find a GIF that perfectly captures the tone and theme of your content.

Once you've found the perfect GIF, simply click on it to add it to your story. It's that easy!

Photobooth mode allows you to take four photos that then appear in consecutive order in your Story.

You can change the filter if you don't like it. This flexibility lets you experiment with different looks for your photos.

A flash is used in between each photo, giving the effect of photos taken in an actual photo booth. It's a fun way to capture a series of memories in one go.

You can also add stickers, text, and drawings to your photos, giving them a personal touch. This is a great way to make your photos stand out and tell a story.

You can add a link to your Instagram story by tapping the "link" sticker in the sticker tray and pasting your link into the link field.

To make links highly visible, you can place them anywhere on your story.

If you have a long or unwieldy URL, you can customize the sticker text by tapping the "Customize sticker text" button.

To drive traffic to your website or other social media handles, link to them in your Instagram Stories using stickers.

You can also remind people to "Swipe Up" to access the content you've linked.

To access the link feature, you need at least 10,000 followers and a business account, but with the link sticker, you can link to a website whether you have 100 followers or 10k.

Here are some ways you can use the link sticker:

To increase engagement and views of your Instagram Story, let viewers share them with their friends as direct messages (DMs).

Instagram Stories are a great way to share moments from your life, but it's essential to prioritize your privacy and security.

The app allows you to control who sees your stories by choosing between "Friends", "Only Me", or "Public."

You can also use the "Close Friends" feature to share exclusive content with a select group of people.

Be cautious when using the "Add to Your Story" feature, as it allows others to add their own photos and videos to your story.

Instagram has a feature called "Take a Break" that allows you to temporarily disable notifications and take a break from the app.

Your Instagram account is connected to your Facebook account, which means that your Facebook friends can see your Instagram stories if you've made your account public.

You can change your Instagram account's visibility settings to limit who can see your content.

For more insights, see: Are Instagram Stories Public