TechCrunch first reported that Instagram was testing Location Stories last week. At the time, users could find various Stories tagged with a location sticker (say, Miami Beach), but only by going to that particular location’s Instagram page or by clicking on said sticker from another user’s Story. Now, it’s become far easier to access these images. Instagram has begun to highlight Location Stories in the Explore tab’s Stories section, right at the top of your screen. Some users will see Locations alongside Stories from other popular users, and while this feature is not yet live for everyone, it is likely to roll out to the masses quite soon. (At time of posting, we started noticing the feature popping up in our Explore tab.)
Of course, we’ll now have to wait and see whether or not Instagram will allow you to to search for Stories (as Snapchat does). After all, if it wants to compete, it’s going to have to show that everything Snapchat can do, it can do better (or just as well).
As it stands, it doesn’t look as though you have to volunteer to have your Instagram content appear in a Location Story, as long as it’s tagged with a location sticker and is public. It’s unclear if this policy would hold if a search feature were ultimately implemented.
So get excited, friends. Soon, you may be able to post the same content to Instagram as you do to Snapchat and have it discovered the same way, if you don’t already.
