Facebook really wants people to view Stories on its main app, so much so that the social network is now turning to Instagram to see if its teen-friendly app can get the feature to finally stick.
Instagram is testing a new feature that allows people to share their Story directly to Facebook.
Under the test, Instagram users see a new option to share photos and videos created with Instagram’s in-app camera to their Facebook Story, as well as their Instagram Story, according to screenshots posted to Twitter.
h/t @mruiandre pic.twitter.com/VTqI92dNJe
— Matt Navarra ⭐️ (@MattNavarra) September 6, 2017
It’s not clear how big the current test is or what Instagram’s future plans are for the feature. In a statement, an Instagram spokesperson confirmed the test, but declined to share more about the company’s plans.
“We are always testing ways to improve the experience on Instagram and make it easier to share any moment with the people who matter to you. We have no other plans to share at this time.”
While it may seem unusual for the photo-sharing app to be testing such a close integration with Facebook, as the two have traditionally been kept separate, it’s not altogether surprising.
Facebook has made no secret of its interest in Stories, which it has been aggressively pushing into all of its apps. This push first began a little over a year ago with Instagram, and has since expanded to Messenger, WhatsApp, and the main Facebook app.
Though the feature has been popular on both Instagram and WhatsApp, it’s been all but ignored on Facebook’s main app. The social network is likely hoping by pushing Instagram Stories to Facebook, it can capture some of the engagement Instagram has seen. More than250 million people use Instagram Stories each day, according to the company.
Those kind of numbers would obviously be a boon for Facebook, though it might find even its latest efforts falling short. As we’ve observed before, Mark Zuckerberg seems to be one of the few people actually using the feature.
