Instagram's Cooking Up Shared Stories

Instagram's got a new trick up its sleeve, and if you're someone who loves posting Stories at every party, concert, or chaotic friend gathering—you might want to keep an eye on this one. After dropping the Blend feature for Reels last week (you know, that curated-for-two feed situation), the platform is back at it, this time focusing on turning Stories into a collaborative experience.


Here's what's brewing: according to app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi, Instagram is experimenting with something called "Storylines." The idea? Letting you and your friends build a shared Story together. So instead of everyone posting their own separate take on Friday night's house party, your crew can link their Stories into one long, glorious timeline. Think of it like a group chat, but in Story format.

Here's how it works: if you and your friends follow each other, they'll be able to connect their Stories to yours—only if they're about the same event or moment. It creates a kind of evolving, multi-perspective narrative where everyone gets their say. And if you've made your Story public, your friends' followers can see and join in too, giving the whole thing potential to snowball into a crowd-sourced, multi-angle story event.

If your account is private, don't worry—people outside your circle won't see your content, but they will see that you contributed to a shared Storyline. So yeah, even that might lead to a few new follow requests.

Instagram hasn't officially launched this feature yet—it's still in the experimental stage—but it's definitely in line with what head honcho Adam Mosseri has been promising: more interaction, more participation, and less mindless scrolling. Since most of the app's engagement these days comes from DMs and Stories, it makes sense to double down on what's actually working.

Compared to the Reels Blend feature (which feels a bit too "Spotify Wrapped but for videos"), Storylines actually has some spark. It leans into real-world moments, group dynamics, and that collective urge to overshare—but together. And in a social media landscape where connection is kind of the point, this might just be Instagram's next big win.

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