Instagram seems to be adding the ability to leave comments on Instagram Stories, the posts that many people use even more than the traditional feed posts these days. Earlier, replying to an Instagram Story sent a private message visible only to the person who posted the content. The addition of comments adds a more public way to respond to Stories.
The ability to comment in the first place is more limited, though; only people who follow the posted and who the poster follows back will be able to comment on the Story. Instagram has explained how most of it works in this video.
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How Will Instagram Story Comment Feature Work
Similar to Stories, the comments are temporary and will last only for 24 hours; Instagram spokesperson Emily Norfolk says users will get the option to turn comments on or off for any Story they share. It’s not clear whether comments will be archived after a Story post expires.
Instagram has constantly brought new features to the platform, such as Reels and Stories that seem to suggest the company sees them as key places for user engagement with friends, not just casual content meant to be scrolled through.
Earlier this summer the platform added disappearing “notes” to grid posts and Reels, meant to draw more attention to how their friends are engaging with content. Those disappearing notes expire after three days, and users can choose who’s able to see their posts.
Temporary notes are overlaid on top of the post, making comments from friends more prominent. Instagram also announced today that some likes on posts will now appear more prominently as floating hearts, the same as how they appear on the disappearing notes.
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Meta To Allow Instagram Users To Create AI Chatbots
Instagram parent company Meta will enable users to create their own AI-powered chatbots and add them to their profiles, an effort to court creators and further integrate the company’s AI software into its most popular consumer products.
The feature, dubbed AI Studio, enables creators with professional accounts to make a custom AI chatbot that is “an extension of themselves” and will be able to answer common questions from fans or followers. People can tell their chatbot what types of questions to answer, or which topics to avoid, the company wrote in a blog post.
Instagram users will be able to create a themed chatbot for their profile, for instance, a bot focused on mixed material arts, dining, or pets. Both features will be rolling out to a wider audience in the coming days.