With Instagram under the Facebook corporate umbrella, posting to both platforms simultaneously is pretty simple — and now that same cross-platform use is now crossing over to Stories. After the company confirmed a test of the ability to post Instagram Stories to Facebook in September, the feature is now rolling out in the U.S.
The new feature appears to work much like cross-posting an Instagram photo. When adding to a Story, the option to also post to Facebook appears before posting. When the option is selected, those Stories will also show up on Facebook. Just as when posting an Instagram photo to Facebook, the shared Stories will have a small “Instagram” label telling viewers that the post originated on Instagram.
Stories, a series of short video clips about your day that disappears to start fresh the next day, is a feature available across several platforms, including Facebook and Instagram as well as the originator of the feature, Snapchat. Instagram, however, boasts the largest number of users using the feature. Facebook has not shared recent user data on the feature but the general consensus is that fewer users are participating on Facebook.
Facebook has been beefing up the Stories option in several recent updates, including the ability to post to Stories directly from Facebook Camera. The company began testing the option to view Stories on desktop browsers last month, with Instagram announcing expanded mobile browser features including Stories last week. An update to the privacy settings allowed the feature to be accessible by fans as well as friends. Messenger even has its own Stories-like option called Messenger Day.
While the general concept is the same, Instagram Stories also have location-based options, allowing users to find other Stories from nearby users inside the Explore tab. Instagram also allows users to reply to Stories and reports that more than half of the businesses on the platform use the feature. The instant, photo-centric nature of Instagram might also be a better place for sharing visual snippets of your day.
While Facebook confirmed that the cross-posting functionality is rolling out in the U.S., it is unclear if or when the option will roll out globally.
