Instagram is launching a new feature aimed at letting users catch up on Story Highlights they may have missed. With the increasing deluge of Reels and sponsored posts, it’s easy to overlook updates from close friends, which this new feature could help with.
What Are Story Highlights
If you’re curious, let’s break it down. Instagram Stories are short photographs or videos that disappear after 24 hours. But what about the story highlights? They are the events that people choose to permanently post on their profiles, like a “greatest hits” album of their lives.
Instagram’s most recent experiment is putting these Highlights back into spotlight. The premise is simple: once you’ve seen all of your friends’ new Stories, any missed Highlights will appear at the bottom of your Stories tray. This makes it easier to keep up with any critical updates you may have missed.
How This Feature Work
Meta, Instagram’s parent company, is currently testing this feature with a small number of users. Highlights will not replace regular Stories; they will surface only after you have caught up on all of the new ones.
So, if you don’t always finish your Stories tray (let’s be honest, we’ve all been there), you may miss these Highlights. However, for those that keep track of their feed, this tool could be a terrific way to rediscover key occasions.
Why Instagram doing this
According to social media analyst Ahmed Ghanem, this decision represents Instagram’s concentrate on material from friends and family. Over time, the app has relied primarily on Reels and algorithm-generated recommendations. By reviving Highlights, Instagram appears to be emphasizing human connections once more—a welcome change for many users.
