Instagram Announces New ‘Private Story Likes’ Feature; Here’s How To Use It

Instagram has added a new feature to its platform called Story Like. Users can now indicate their support for a narrative or, in other words, like a story on the photo and video sharing platform without having to send a DM or direct message.

In a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced the launch of Private Story Likes. Users can now interact with a Story by tapping the heart icon, just like they can with a standard feed post, according to the latest update.

Like A Story Without Sending A DM

Tapping the like button placed between Send Message option and the paper airplane icon doesn't send a DM notification to the user. Private Story Likes, unlike ordinary Instagram posts, will not display a count. They'll show up in the viewer sheet rather than in the users DM thread.

Prior to the introduction of the Story Like function, each comment a user shared on an Instagram Story was received as a response in the user's DM inbox, along with a direct link to the Story. However, with this new function, Instagram users will be able to express their gratitude for their friends and favorite creators'
stories without clogging their DMs.

These likes will appear in the user's viewer sheet, which is where you can see other users' likes and comments on their posts. According to Instagram's CEO, the goal is to clean up users' feeds. Users will be able to show more support for one another while also cleaning up their direct messages. Messaging is still a top focus and it's critical to clean up your inbox on a regular basis.

Instagram New Features

Instagram's latest Private Story Likes feature was released as part of the company's attempts to improve the platform's messaging experience. Mosseri indicated in December of last year that Instagram would focus on messaging and increase work on controls to promote transparency, as well as announcing the company's broad aims for 2022.

Instagram released a suite of new capabilities earlier this month to make it easier for users to delete posts, comments, and other actions from the network. Users can bulk remove or archive all of their content, including posts, Stories, IGTV, and Reels, as well as their interactions, such as comments, likes, and story sticker reactions.

In the 'Your Activity section of Instagram, users may also filter their material and interactions by date and search for past comments, likes, and stories replies from a certain time range.