In a move that many people have been waiting for, Instagram finally allow users to use links on their posts.
After previously testing this feature in June and replaced the swipe-up links with it in late August, the social media app finally announced that the link-sharing feature is rolling out to all users to use in their Stories.
Previously, this ability was restricted to only users who are verified, or have more than 10,000 followers.
By bringing link stickers to everyone, using links on Instagram is no longer exclusive.
With link stickers, even the most common of users or those who just registered to Instagram can share external URLs through Stories, irrespective of their accounts' verified status and follower count.
This addition should be a welcome news for all Instagram users.
As explained by the Facebook-owned company:
"We’ve heard from the rest of our community that they also want to share things that matter with their friends and family. Whatever you’re into, from cooking to volunteering or shopping, you now have a space to share in Stories - regardless of your account size."
It's worth noting that link stickers replacing the swipe-up gesture has been somewhat a controversy.
This is because it confused users, in the case of Instagram ads, which can still be opened through swipe-up links.
But here, besides the addition of link stickers, as opposed to swipe-up links, Instagram should be able to give users more creative control over how links appear within their Stories frames, which could be a good way to drive more referral traffic.
With this feature, all Instagram users can add their own links, expanding the potential value of Stories for driving audience action.
According to Instagram, link stickers should come useful for anyone from businesses linking out to their products to activists linking out to external resources.
For brands and influencers, for example, this feature should put Stories as a better communication tool.
With link stickers, Instagram is essentially making Stories a more valuable source for exposure. And because it has the capacity to drive direct traffic, this is a significant announcement to all users.
To add a link, users just need to head into the sticker tool from the top navigation bar, and upload a content to their Story. After that, they need to tap on the 'Link' sticker and enter the desired URL.
After all is done, the feature will function just like any other stickers on any other Stories
Due to the anticipated high usage, Instagram concedes that anyone can benefit from link sharing to engage with their followers, but also said that accounts should not abuse this feature.
The social media company said that "new accounts and accounts that repeatedly share things like hate speech and misinformation, or other content that violates our Community Guidelines will not have access to the Link sticker."
"Reels is already the primary driver of engagement growth on Instagram. It's incredibly entertaining, and I think there is a huge amount of potential ahead. We expect this to continue growing and I am optimistic that this will be as important for our products as Stories is. We also expect to make significant changes to Instagram and Facebook in the next year to further lean into video and make Reels a more central part of the experience," said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.