Instagram’s testing out another way to encourage interaction within Stories with some users now seeing a new “Hype” option, which enables you to post a comment to a Story that other users can then also see in-stream.
As you can see in this example, posted by social media expert Matt Navarra, Hype comments are displayed on your Story, so that anyone else who views your update can see what others are saying.
The default, at present, is that any replies to a Story are sent to the creator as a DM, but this will provide another interactive option, as Instagram continues to build in more direct engagement and interaction tools.
Which has become a bigger focus over the past year in particular, as the way that Instagram users engage in the app continues to shift.
In July last year, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri explained that users now “post a lot more to stories, and send a lot more DMs, than they post to Feed”. That’s since become a key focus for the app’s development, with the main IG feed now becoming more of a discovery platform, in highlighting the best trending, primarily video content, while the social elements shift out of public sight.
In line with this, Instagram’s rolled out a range of alternative engagement options, including Collaborative Posts, Close Friends sharing, a comment “Wonder Wall” (in testing), and more.
Instagram also added the capacity to share post replies to IG Stories last month, which is somewhat similar to this new Hype option, though more directly related to specific comments.
Really, Meta needs to find new ways to encourage original content sharing, because while Facebook and IG activity has been rising in 2023, original posting has continued to decline. And without that, Meta’s apps lose a significant aspect of their appeal, and their power as connective engagement surfaces.
I mean, hosting entertainment apps is obviously working out, as it amplifies more video content. But Meta also gleans major value from interaction, and facilitating participation among users.
As such, you can expect to see Instagram testing out a range of additional engagement options moving forward, as it seeks to maximize sharing between profiles.
