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Instagram Introduces Exciting New Stories Feature

More than 500 million people use Instagram, and with all of that photo sharing, users are definitely going to enjoy a brand new, just released feature: Instagram Stories.

Four years ago, Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in cash and stock. Facebook tried to take over Snapchat, too — they put forth a hefty $3 billion acquisition offer back in 2013. But Snapchat walked away, and now boasts more than 150 million users every day.

In the years since, Facebook has tried to lure consumers away from the ever-growing Snapchat, which continues to gain substantial amounts of users. However, Facebook’s newest innovation, Instagram Stories, certainly mimics the popular aspects of its major competitor. Could it dethrone Snapchat in the world of disappearing images?

How To Use Instagram Stories
Anyone who is already using Snapchat will easily pick up on how to use the new Instagram Stories feature. Update your Instagram app to reflect the new home screen layout that highlights stories at the top of your feed.

You can easily add your own photo or video by tapping the plus sign in the upper left-hand corner or by swiping right on your phone. This screen looks a whole lot like Snapchat with its full screen view from your camera phone. Choose whether you want the camera to face toward or away from you by pressing the lower right-hand button.

Snap your shot or film that video by pressing down on the shutter button located in the middle of the screen. Need flash? You can find that on the left-hand side.

Once you take a pic, you can add text or draw on it — just like with Snapchat. There are a few tools to choose from, like a slider to adjust the thickness of your line, nine colors to play around with, and a glowing marker for a dash of laser-like fun.

Ready to share your masterpiece? Tap the checkmark at the bottom of your screen to share it to your Story, where it will remain live for twenty-four hours. Tip: you can also save it to your “Camera Roll” if you hit the right-hand download button.

SnapChat Copycat
If you are a fan of Snapchat, you will enjoy this new Instagram addition. It’s just one more option to play around with your images and video and make them your own.

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