Lately, most social media platforms are shifting their focus from the social element to more of an entertainment one. This is because of the fact that most social media platforms are looking to improve their engagement on the platform.
This is precisely the reason why Instagram is looking for ways to develop part of the platform that sees strong user activity. These days, the most engaging parts of the platform are Reels, DMs, and Stories. That is why the company has made a slew of changes to all these features in the recent past.
Another feature upgrade or experiment comes in the form of Recent Stories Highlights aimed at increasing engagement. This example, shared by app researcher Hammod Oh, shows us that Instagram is testing a new feature called “Lately” for stories. This adds a new automatically generated highlight feed to your profile that shows the most recent stories of your profile.
Post by @ihammod_ohView on Threads
In simple terms, this “lately” feature extends the Story preview to more than 24 hours. This also gives users who visit your profile, a chance to see what you have been doing recently when it comes to Stories.
This could be an important feature as Instagram is looking for ways to increase user engagement on the platform. The general feed activity on Instagram is declining as users are looking at less permanent ways to engage on the platform and Story is the best option. In a bid to engage new users, Instagram updated the feed algorithm recently to favor original and emerging creators. So, this is another effort from Instagram to boost engagement on the platform.
