Until now, Instagram has limited who can share links or links to browse Stories. Now Instagram is testing to extend this link sharing feature to all users.
But the shared link was not in the form of a swipe up as used today, but in the form of a sticker. The function of this sticker remains the same as the swipe up link, the difference is that it only needs to be tapped and not swiped up.
Instagram Head of Product Vishal Shah says that currently the trial is still limited to a handful of users. This experiment was done to see how the user used to use this feature.
Instagram will monitor the type of links that users will share to avoid sharing links that contain incorrect information and spam, as quoted from The Verge, Wednesday (6/30/2021).
Shah says link stickers are more in line with the way people use Instagram today. This Facebook-owned social media application will slowly become a link sticker as the main way to access external websites for all users.
"That's the kind of system in the future that we want to achieve. And that's what we hope to release, if we can do it," said Shah.
Currently the link will only be available in Stories and Shah says Instagram has no plans to bring it to other parts of the app such as comments. Later, users will be able to reply to Stories that contain link stickers, something that is currently not possible with Stories that have swipes.
This experiment is certainly good news for Instagram users who do not have access to place swipe links in Stories. Currently, to gain this access, users must have a verified account or have at least 10,000 followers.
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