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Instagram users can now publicly comment on Stories

The move taps into the possibility for more engagement.
Instagram Story comments
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You can now publicly comment on your friends’ Instagram Stories.

Instagram is rolling out the feature, allowing you to post a comment that will live until the Story expires.

“Story Comments are here! Giving you an easy way to connect with your friends and spark conversations via comments in Instagram Stories!” said the Instagram creators account on Threads.

The move taps into the possibility for more engagement, as Story posts are put up more frequently than Feed posts — something previously noted by Instagram head Adam Mosseri.

“Friends post a lot more to Stories and send a lot more DMs than they post to Feed,” Mosseri said on X.

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When you open a friend’s Story, you’ll be able to drop a public comment via the “add a comment” field. But you won’t be able to do this on just anyone's Story.

By default, the new feature allows only users who are mutuals — someone you follow who follows you back — to comment on each other’s Stories. If a user wants to open comments to more people, they can update their settings to choose "all followers." A user can also disable comments on all or individual Stories.

Anyone who can see your Story will be able to see the comments.

The public comments will appear along the body of the Story frame.

The new feature comes in addition to Story replies and reactions with emojis, which are, however, sent privately via direct message.

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