Instagram Launches Story Search

Instagram Stories wants to be your window into what’s going on around a topic or place right now, so it’s adding a way to search Stories two months after Snapchat did the same. 

Instagram users can now search for a location or hashtag, and see a Story compiled from Story posts by other users that include that location sticker, hashtag sticker, or hashtag in the caption. Location Stories from nearby places (but not Hashtag Stories) will also appear featured in the Explore tab.

Story Search could open new use cases on Instagram, like checking out the weather, crowd, or what’s going on at a location right now, or seeing what people are doing or thinking about a major news topic or random theme. That could boost usage time of Stories while adding utility to the app, though for now Instagram says there’ll be no ads in Story Search or Explore.

“From discovering new parts of your own city to jogging alongside the #fromwhereirun community all around the world, location and hashtag stories help you share these experiences as they unfold” Instagram writes.

This news comes as Instagram adds another big new feature: Archive. This lets you essentially temporarily delete posts by putting them into your private Archive section of your profile only you can see, and restoring them later if you want.

Only content tagged with a location sticker, hashtag sticker, or underlined hashtag will appear in the associated Stories. Instagram tells TechCrunch that users who do add these stickers or hashtags that make their posts eligible for these compiled Stories can opt out of having their content distributed more widely by clicking the ‘X’ on their Stories view counter, where they’ll also see how many people saw their post through Explore.

For privacy, you’ll only see public posts in these Stories, or private posts by people who let you follow them.

That differs from Snapchat’s Search privacy model. There you have to explicitly submit a Story post to Snapchat’s collaborative “Our Story” to have it appear in search. But once you do submit it, Snapchat will look at the text captions, emojis, stickers, lenses, geolocation, and meta data plus use machine vision to detect objects or scenes in the Snap to algorithmically index it for search.

So Instagram doesn’t require explicit submission, but then employs fewer explicit signals to index content for search, while Snapchat requires explicit submission and then indexes with a wide range of signals. Both use algorithmic curation to scalably sort through the reams of eligible posts and surface the most relevant ones in search.

Instagram and Snapchat are fighting to get you to watch more than just your friends’ content. Some people’s social graphs just might not produce enough high-quality stuff to view. But by unlocking the contributions of all their users, Instagram and Snapchat could keep people tuned in after they watch what’s up with their best friends.

And that’s where Instagram’s scale comes in. With Instagram now at 700 million monthly users, 400 million daily users, and 200 million daily Stories users, it has more people to pull content from than Snapchat with its 166 million daily users.

That could give Instagram better coverage of landmarks, events, and big trends as it tries to show you the real-time moments of the world.

TechCrunch:

You Might Also Read:

How Social Media Influences Elections:

Stop Arguing On Social Media:

 

 

« Protect Yourself Against Ransomware
Google's AI Takes On Go Champion »

Infosecurity Europe
CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

LockLizard

LockLizard

Locklizard provides PDF DRM software that protects PDF documents from unauthorized access and misuse. Share and sell documents securely - prevent document leakage, sharing and piracy.

Resecurity

Resecurity

Resecurity is a cybersecurity company that delivers a unified platform for endpoint protection, risk management, and cyber threat intelligence.

Clayden Law

Clayden Law

Clayden Law advise global businesses that buy and sell technology products and services. We are experts in information technology, data privacy and cybersecurity law.

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO is the market leader in HPE Non-Stop Security, Risk Management and Compliance.

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North IT (North Infosec Testing) are an award-winning provider of web, software, and application penetration testing.

Egress Software Technologies

Egress Software Technologies

Egress Software Technologies is a leading provider of data security services designed to protect shared information throughout its lifecycle.

Hillstone Networks

Hillstone Networks

Hillstone Networks offers a broad range of security solutions for enterprises and data center networks – whether physical, virtual, or in the cloud.

A-SIT Secure Information Technology Center

A-SIT Secure Information Technology Center

A-SIT was founded in 1999 as a registered nonprofit association and is established as a competence center for IT-Security.

KLDiscovery

KLDiscovery

KLDiscovery is a global leader in delivering best-in-class eDiscovery, information governance and data recovery solutions.

VXRL

VXRL

VXRL is a Hong Kong-based cybersecurity company. We provide consulting services, penetration testing, and corporate training.

Garland Technology

Garland Technology

Garland Technology specializes in network access points (TAPs) for 100% visibility allowing you to see every bit, byte, and packet flowing through your network.

LuJam Cyber

LuJam Cyber

LuJam Cyber is a cybersecurity company that provides protection to SME Networks.

GrrCON

GrrCON

GrrCON is an information security and hacking conference that provides the Midwest InfoSec community with a fun atmosphere to come together and engage with like minded people.

Duality Technologies

Duality Technologies

Duality Technologies combine Advanced Cryptography with Data Science to deliver High-Performance Privacy-Protecting Computing to Regulated Industries.

Vumetric Cybersecurity

Vumetric Cybersecurity

Vumetric is an ISO9001 certified company offering penetration testing, IT security audits and specialized cybersecurity services.

RealCISO

RealCISO

RealCISO is a CISO grade cloud platform to help companies understand, manage, and mitigate their cyber risk.

Infopercept Consulting

Infopercept Consulting

Infopercept is a leading cybersecurity company in India, providing a critical layer of security to protect business information, infrastructure & assets across the organization.

Wavex Technology

Wavex Technology

Wavex Technology is an award winning IT Services firm offering clients a secure and fully managed IT service.

Finesse Global

Finesse Global

Finesse is a global system integration and digital business transformation company.

Iolo

Iolo

Iolo develops patented technology and award-winning software that repairs, optimizes, and protects computers, to maximize system speed and performance while keeping them safe.

Securafy

Securafy

At Securafy, we understand how important it is to have the right IT partner by your side. For over 30 years, we’ve helped businesses stay secure, connected, and compliant.