Instagram has announced that everyone will have access to Link stickers in Stories, regardless of your account type or size.
Until now, the social giant's Link sharing functionality, activated via swipe-ups, was limited to certain types of accounts that hit the follower threshold - essentially verified artists or those with more than 10,000 followers.
But what about developing artists or independent labels?
Well, Instagram has expanded the ability to add links in Stories to all accounts and the new feature launches this week.
According to a recent post, "over the years, businesses, creators and change-makers have shown how sharing resources and information can inspire their communities. From organising and educating around equity, social justice and mental well-being to showcasing new product drops to customers, link sharing is helpful in many ways — so now we're giving access to everyone."
Equity, expression and enablement
Instagram says that it has learned from its community and testing, that this experience is inequitable and that sharing can be an important tool for many reasons - whether you’re an artist just starting out, a superstar selling out arenas, or a legend making a come back - which is why it's now enabling everyone to share what is important to them.
That means easily linking posts to pre-orders, tickets. merch and more.
How to add Story links
It's so quick to add Story link to your post, so simply tap the smiley Link sticker in the top part of your Story to start.
To add a Link sticker:
- Take a pic or upload content to your story via your roll
- Select the sticker tool from the top nav bar
- Tap the Link sticker to add your desired link
- Tap 'Done'
- Place the Link sticker on your story
- Tap the sticker to change its colour appearance
Instagram also announced that it's also working on new ways to customise the sticker, for user clarity purposes, so someone will see when they tap your link.
This is great news as the current stickers can look a little odd amongst your finely curated content and visually less neat than the swipe format. Some new font variations would be nice!
Safety in the community
To limit harmful Instagram posts, new accounts or accounts "that repeatedly share things like hate speech and misinformation, or other content that violates our Community Guidelines" will not be able to use the Link sticker option.
