Instagram might soon let everyone share links on their stories irrespective of the number of followers they have

Instagram is testing letting anyone share a link on the stories in the form of stickers. These links can be opened if you tap on it.

This new test is aimed at Instagram users who have “found a voice and reach on the platform” but have not reached the level that Instagram needs to allow the “swipe up” privileges. (Instagram/The Verge)

The number of people allowed to post links on Instagram stories has been kept limited by the company so far, but that might be changing soon. The company is starting a new test that could give more people an option to add links to their Instagram stories. There is going to be a little different though. The links are not going to operate with the “swipe up” option but appear as a linking sticker on the story. So you will need to tap on this link to follow the link instead of ‘swiping up'. People will also be able to respond to these stories that come with the link sticker, this is not currently allowed for stories that have the ‘swipe up'.

Vishal Shah, Instagram's Head of Product, told The Verge that for now the test is small and the company just wants to learn how people “might take advantage of links”. Instagram is going to be keeping an eye on the kind of links people post while also keeping a check on misinformation and spam. Shah said that stickers “fit more into the current way people use the platform” so this test “brings links into the same kind of overall system, which from a simplicity of system perspective, also makes a lot of sense”. Shah added that link stickers are the “eventual goal” for Instagram for everyone, even those who already have linking privileges.

“That is the sort of future system we would like to get to. And that's what we hope to roll out if we're able to make this work,” Shah said. These sticker links will be limited to stories right now and there is no plan to bring them to the feed or to any other part of the app.

This new test is aimed at Instagram users who have “found a voice and reach on the platform” but have not reached the level that Instagram needs to allow the “swipe up” privileges. Currently, to get the “swipe up” option, you need to either have a verified profile or have at least 10,000 followers. For now, the test is small and how Instagram works is not going to change soon, but a feature like this is going to allow people to start browsing the web from within the Instagram app more frequently than they do now. This might be the end of the terrible “link in bio” and we cannot be more thankful.