Instagram tests ‘Re-share’ label for Stories to boost engagement

Instagram is testing a new ’Re-share’ label for Instagram Stories to offer users new ways to promote other users’ photos and videos on the platform. 

Yesterday, the company announced the tests of the label which will allow IG users to see a list of the posts that their friends have seen, saved or shared on the popular social media network. 

Late 2020, Instagram carried out a test disabling users to re-share posts on their Instagram Stories to see how it affects user engagement. 

“We think re-shares are important,” said Vishal Shah, Instagram’s head of product.“We think they should still exist but we think people should be really deliberate about when they use them.”

Also Read: The 4 Best Apps & Websites to View Instagram Stories Anonymously

Before May this year, the company had prioritized original posts in Stories over Stories with re-shared posts. After the company was accused of hiding pro-Palestinian content shared on the platform, it’s recently changed its algorithm and said would rank them equally. 

Also Read: The 7 Best Instagram Story Apps

First launched in August 2016, more than 500 million people now use Instagram Stories on a daily basis. 

The company has launched/tested many stickers for Stories before, including ‘Captions’, ‘Donation’ and ‘Invites’.