Instagram was my first (app) love. It let me express myself through my photography. It became easy though… in terms of creating a following and it started to challenge me less and less since I played it safe with photos. When I was bored creatively, I would start photo projects around Florence – where I lived for three years – like @notmynonni and dozens of hashtags relating to Italy. Instagram featured me too, which was pretty cool.

Now Snapchat has taken away a lot of my (app) attention. Why? Because engagement has dropped in Instagram across the board. I feel like I hit a high point, not sure whether I can increase my following like I used to. And, I was looking for a creative challenge. Make. Stories. Be. Engaging. All this with video.

So, if you’re not sure what the Instagram Stories update entails, watch the video. Then check out some quick observations from today’s update.

Instagram Stories

Benefits:

1. You can leave the Instagram app, come back, and the story will be right where you left it. Unlike Snapchat which kicks you out of your placement in a story, making you have to restart the app. Ugh.
2. You can swipe right to go back to a story, unlike Snapchat where you can only move forward in stories.
3. You have stats of the views, which is great that they added this feature right away rather than in the next update. I have a stronger presence in Instagram, so views are higher than on Snapchat making me rethink where I should spend social efforts.
4. You can see any public account’s stories. Whereas in Snapchat, you have to follow that account in order to see their posts.
5. You don’t have to hold down the record button. Nice touch.
6. You can pause a video by leaving your thumb on the screen, this has come in handy.

The #AppWars are strong. #InstagramStories pic.twitter.com/JLEx0YjNVl

— Tiana Kai (@TianaPix) August 3, 2016

Challenges:

1. You cannot click on a person’s profile in stories to go to their main Instagram feed. Why do I want this? Because I follow tons of people, some of which I’ve never, as in NEVER, seen their faces before so I’m like “who the hell is this?” and I need to see their photography in order to know who they are.
2. You can’t download your whole story. Yet.
3. Your vertical stories will be squares when posted on your Instagram photo feed.
4. Not currently available on desktop from what I could see.
5. You can’t unfollow someone on Instagram Stories if you follow them on Instagram. Let’s be honest, some people are great at photography, but not video… we may not want to see everyone’s videos just because we follow their photography.
6. And vice versa — How about following someone’s Instagram Stories, but not their Instagram feed.
7. If you’re listening to Pandora or a podcast while watching/listening to an IF Story, the secondary app’s audio does not pause.
8. Text is only in white, but no biggie.

That’s it. What do you think? Do you think this will reduce the focus on liking photos now (more than before)? Oh, and duh, follow me. On Snapchat too. *Image is from Instagram’s blog.

P.S. My blog’s been in shambles for a few reasons, so thanks for stopping by. It feels good to write on this thing again.