A new Location Stories feature shows you stories posted near you

folarin okunola

May 24, 2017 11:29 AM

Location Stories could be a problem since it seems like Instagram just picks these stories at random without any moderation whatsoever.

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom.

Instagram’s Explore tab has a new feature, Location Stories, which lets you see stories people have shared with location stickers.

When you open the Explore tab now, you will see a story ring with stories posted near you. Those stories are stories that people have published using that locations stickers in them. You can also search for any location and stories from there will show up on the Locations page.

If you add a location sticker to your story, you could get featured in the stories for that location — which could be a problem since it seems like Instagram just picks these stories at random without any moderation whatsoever.

ALSO READ: New update brings face filters and a rewind camera to photo-sharing site

A good example is the image below of someone smoking weed which we came across at Pulse as we tested the new Location Stories feature. I don’t think Lagos (or any city for that matter) wants to be labeled as a drug-fueled city.

If your story does get added to a Location Story, you will see a line at the top of your stories viewer list showing how many people saw it in the larger story. If you want to use a location sticker but you don’t it to appear on the Explore tab, simply tap the ‘X’ on your stories viewers list.

Location Stories on Explore are now available on Android and iOS as part of Instagram version 10.22.

folarin okunola