Instagram’s latest feature, Questions Sticker, inserts a Reddit AMA (ask me anything)-like format into Stories — its ephemeral photo sharing component. With the questions sticker, launched on Tuesday, users can prompt story-watchers to ask them questions, which can be answered publicly in a subsequent post.
To request questions from followers, the user selects the “questions” sticker located in the sticker library. Users can then type in their prompt and add the sticker to the photo or video being posted to their story.
Those watching the story can then type their questions into a text box in the sticker; questions asked by followers can be found in the bottom left hand corner where viewers can see who has viewed their story.
To respond to a follower, tap their question to create a new story with an answer.
But don’t worry, while users will be able to see who asked them the question, their question will show up anonymously when made public in your story. The feature is available on iOS and Android.
This is just the latest in a deluge of features and updates added to the app — around 20 since the beginning of the year (including feed changes, anti-bullying improvements, changes to explore, etc.), eight of which were introduced on or after June 1.
Questions Sticker is similar to Instagram Direct (the apps direct messaging feature, which also allows you to privately reply to stories) in that it facilitates conversation, and Instagram polls in that it’s prompting engagement publicly through Instagram Stories.
This feature in particular seems to encourage more engagement between users, which likely means more time spent on the app. (The feature also seems ripe for abuse, so it’ll be interesting to see how Instagram handles any cyber-bullying with the feature.)
Last month, Instagram, which was purchased by Facebook in 2012, reported that Stories has 400 million users per day, which is double the number of users Snapchat has for its similar feature, according to CNBC.
