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Many companies out there rely on the story placement of Instagram to get their branding across, and why wouldn’t they? It’s a high-visibility area that lends itself to brand storytelling. However, Instagram has recently confirmed that they are testing out a different approach to the IG Story interface. Rather than showing all frames, IG is now considering only showing the first three frames and including a “show all” button after this, forcing the end user to take action in order to see more.
Ultimately, if this feature is rolled out for all users, views and reach will inevitably go down. Anytime that that users are forced to take action in order to view more content, then there will always be those who abandon. It’s just a norm of content absorption in the modern era. Attention spans are becoming less and less, and users want more content in less time (which is why video has been such a high performing form of content across all of social media). But even video, the IG Story change will limit to just three frames.
According to Social Media Today, the reasoning behind this IG Story change could stem from the potential of a new Instagram UI for its feed. This new approach would include IG Stories within the actual feed, blended with actual posts. It’s a unique approach to the platform that could make the user experience more organic, but it could also turn off some users who may not put as much emphasis on story/reel content.
Right now, these are merely testing placements that Instagram is conducting on a small group. There haven’t been any official decisions, but surely the platform will adjust the UI according to the results. The team at ARO Effect Marketing will keep an eye on all updates regarding this shift and keep you updated as more information rolls out. Questions? Let us know.
