Instagram is testing a new feature, Collaborative Stories, which may become another popular tool for social interaction after Reels.
According to IG’s overview: “Link stories to create storylines. Friends can link their stories to yours. Fans you follow can also link new related stories to yours.”
What is the Collaborative Stories feature?
Simply put, collaborative stories allow multiple users to publish and manage a Story (limited-time dynamics) together. This means that instead of a single account sharing content, others can be invited to participate, making the story more diverse and interactive.
for example:
If you and your friends are attending a music festival together, you can post updates to the same "collaborative story" together;
Brands can invite fans to contribute content on a certain theme, such as "My Spring OOTD";
KOLs and their fans can start interactive challenges to increase engagement and stickiness.
Currently, this feature is still in the small-scale testing stage , and some regions and users have obtained internal testing permissions.
How to determine if you are eligible for the "Collaborative Stories" test?
Instagram has not yet opened a full public beta, but you can make a preliminary judgment by:
Update Instagram to the latest version ;
Open the Story posting interface, select a photo/video, and click "Share" in the upper right corner;
Check to see if there is an option like "Create a story with others" or "Add to Collaborative Story";
Or if you see a Story entry "from multiple people" when browsing Story, it means you may be within the test scope.
How to use the "Collaborative Story" feature?
If you have obtained the permission, please try the following steps:
Start a collaborative story (as creator):
Open Instagram, tap “+” → select Story;
After editing the Story, click "Share to";
Select Create Collaborative Story.
Set story topics and tags, add inviteable users or open joining permissions;
After publishing, your friends/followers can see a "Join collaboration" button in the Story.
Join others in their collaborative stories:
When you see a "Collaborative Story" posted by a friend, click the "Join" button;
Select the photo or video you want to upload;
Waiting for the creator to pass the review (such as enabling the review mechanism);
Once successful, your content will appear in the same collaborative story thread!
Feature highlights: What can Collaborative Stories do?
According to the currently leaked test interface screenshots and user feedback, collaborative stories have the following potential:
Multi-person editing
Invite friends or partners to join the story content, similar to the collaborative editing experience of Google Docs, but for video and text content.
Automatic labeling + focused exposure
Fans of all participants may see this "co-creation story", and the collaborators will be automatically tagged, allowing the content to gain more exposure.
Dynamic interaction enhancement
Users can uniformly add interactive elements such as voting, Q&A, countdown, etc. to collaborative stories to increase participation.
Application scenarios and gameplay inspiration of collaborative stories
This feature brings more possibilities to social media gameplay. Here are some creative uses:
1. Brand co-branding/cross-border cooperation
Multiple brands or bloggers can simultaneously display each other's content through a collaborative Story, thereby directing traffic to each other and increasing exposure .
2. Real-time co-creation at the event site
For example, at a music festival, offline salon or opening ceremony, multiple people can publish content from the event together to create a strong sense of participation and on-site atmosphere.
3. KOLs interact with fans
Bloggers can invite fans to share a topic, such as "My OOTD", "Travel Moments", etc., to enable fans to co-create content .
4. Content collaboration within the team
For corporate and media accounts, content team members can collaborate to publish Stories to improve work efficiency and style consistency.
Conclusion
Although it is still in testing, judging from Instagram’s efforts to promote “social co-creation” in recent years, Collaborative Stories is likely to become the next tool to ignite interaction .
The collaborative story function not only expands the boundaries of creation, but also opens up a more interactive social gameplay. Whether you are a content creator, a brand owner, or an ordinary user who loves to share your life, you can use it to play more tricks and gain more attention and connections.
suggest you start thinking now: Who can I work with to do a "collaborative story"? What topic is most suitable?
Have you activated this feature on your account? Are you looking forward to this feature?
