Instagram has added two new tools to its Stories – Highlights and Archive – to help preserve the otherwise ephemeral content people share. Instagram says that users’ profiles no longer represent them as they should, so the two new tools should come in handy for people to save the content that matters to them most. Users’ Stories will still disappear from their profile 24 hours after being posted, but starting today Instagram Stories will automatically archive that content so that users can privately see it even later on. Users will then be able to create collections of their past Stories, which will be called Stories Highlights.
These new Instagram Stories Highlights will reside in a horizontal bar at the top of users’ profiles, giving those previously ephemeral Stories a forever home. According to Instagram, Stories Highlights will allow users to select which content represents them and their life, and have it as a more prominent part of their profile. This feature will basically enable users to regroup their previous Stories and keep them around for as long as they want, with no ticking clock until the story expires. Users will see the new Stories Highlights below the bio on their profile, and they can tap the “New” circle at any time to choose stories from their archive and create a new Highlight. When another user taps on the respective Highlight, it will appear as a standalone story. The automatic Stories Archive, meanwhile, remains private unless users decide to share that content.
There’s no limit on how many Stories Highlights users can share, or for how long they will appear on their profile. If users want to remove or edit a Highlight after posting it, they can simply access their profile and tap and hold the Highlight in question. Instagram Stories users now also have an Archive icon on their profile, which allows them to access their Stories Archive to make more Highlights. The icon lets users seamlessly shift between their Stories Archive and their Posts Archive, so that everything is within reach and easy to find. The Stories Archive shows the most recent stories at the bottom of a grid, and a date indicator appears on the first story of the day to help users keep track of everything. For those who would rather not have their Instagram Stories automatically archived, even if they’re private, this option can also be turned off from one’s profile settings.
