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According to Engadget, a new, less “clunky” Instagram Stories experience is currently being tested on desktop.

Screenshot cred: Engadget

The ability to view stories via web browser has been available since 2017. This new look, however, makes it easier to browse stories on a big screen. The new carousel layout (shown above) illustrates the major change, which is seeing the cue of Stories in addition to what you’re currently viewing.

This carousel layout might turn out to provide an even better viewing experience than mobile Stories.

Why it matters

This update follows two important trends on Insta:

1. Rise of Stories – ICYMI for the past several years, Stories continue to be a big deal. It’s where many IG users spend most of their time, so the platform wants to make this experience as engaging—and as available—as possible. Opening it up for a more pleasant browsing experience on desktop should further improve the Stories channel.

2. More Desktop Features – Instagram’s success depends on creators and social media managers just as much as the users themselves. Overtime, platforms are trying to make it easier for professionals to efficiently publish, edit, and view content from both mobile and desktop in order to continue being a must-use channel. As mentioned in Social Media Today, this Stories test follows the desktop additions of DM access in 2019 and IG Live viewing last April 2020.

Like we said above, this is currently only a test. So keep your eyes peeled for a wider rollout, as well as potentially even more new desktop features in the coming months.

Bonus: Interested in not only viewing but posting to IG Stories from desktop? There’s a little hack for that… Check out the Hootsuite blog for instructions on how to emulate a mobile browser so you can post to the feed and to Stories from your laptop.

Related News

This month, we’ve also got you covered on these important social media news items:

Blog

Like-less Facebook Page design rolling out soon

Facebook Groups add new Engagement Alerts

Twitter testing voice-based Spaces feature

Instagram testing an improved Stories layout for desktop

Here are a few more shareworthy items we’ve been reading…

Channel Updates & News:

• Approve new Facebook Group members with Participant Approvals (FB Community Blog)

• FB’s Brand Collabs Manager now includes FB Group options (FB Community Blog)

• New Branded Content Tag and tools for influencer partnerships (IG Blog)

• Infographic: LinkedIn usage statistics to inform B2B marketers in 2021 (LinkedIn)

• Snapchat broadens eCommerce push with expanded Bitmoji fashion options (Social Media Today)

• New Google feature aggregates short-form videos from TikTok and Instagram (TechCrunch)

• Twitter testing a “Things in Common” feature (Social Media Today)

• Retweets are now functioning like they used to (Twitter Support)

• Pinterest launches new board features for easier planning (Pinterest blog)

Stories & Analysis

• How to utilize the text-based "info-social" trend (IG Blog)

• Reimagining the workplace (predictions for 2021 and beyond) (LinkedIn blog)

• What Santa Can Teach Us About LinkedIn Profiles (LinkedIn blog)

• Analyzing Facebook’s upcoming smart glasses (Social Media Today)

• Latest Facebook campaign against Apple's upcoming data tracking changes (Social Media Today)

• WhatsApp in damage control over privacy concerns (The Verge)

• Insurrection could be a turning point for social media (Marketplace)

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