Instagram is testing Vertical Stories Feed
Instagram is trying to emulate another element of Tik Tok design via the Vertical Feed Stories as the demand for traditional story format decreases.
Today users browse the stories through horizontal scrolling, but the stories are outdated now, and even Snapchat borrows ideas from Tik Tok, as Spotlight is a clone of Tik Tok.
Vertical scrolling appears more natural in many ways than horizontal scrolling, as it is the way users navigate a lot of websites via a mobile phone.
It is also the method used among other major features across a variety of social applications, such as: News Feed via Facebook or the YouTube home page.
However, turning Instagram stories into vertical feed would be a noticeable change, and it could pave the way for a move away from more static content, such as: images and re-shared feed posts, that still fill the stories section often.
Instagram will likely prioritize video posts over images to better compete with TikTok via the Vertical Feed of Stories, just as it is currently tweaking its algorithm and overall design to prioritize Reels.
The screenshot shows a simple user interface with text that says: You can now scroll up and down to browse through the stories, with a big blue button titled Vertical Stories.
Instagram confirmed that the vertical feed feature for stories is under construction, but it is not available to the public at this time, and a company spokesperson said: This is an early prototype and is not currently being tested via Instagram.
And the prototype might not reach a public launch, but its presence says something about the kind of ideas that Instagram is thinking of as a way to better challenge Tik Tok.
Today's Instagram places Reels, the company's Tik Tok competitor, on its Instagram Explore page, where Reels is the number one.
And when you click on the Reels video, you are taken to a new user interface where you can scroll vertically through the videos, similar to Tik Tok.
The vertical feed for stories might help unify the different Instagram feeds somewhat, matching both the Reels feed and the original app feed, but IGTV still works a little differently.