Let’s face it: Snapchat invented 24-hour-only running social media content. Our now infallible necessity to capture life’s greatest and most mundane moments to share with our friends couldn’t have existed without it, and apps like Snow and WhatsApp have been desperately co-opting its technology.
But a good trick often doesn’t work twice, and in most cases such hype-chasers have been left to circle their own drains. Social media giant Instagram, however, seems to be doing a pretty good, if not better job at attracting its followers to use its IG Stories feature. Not only does it attract some 500,000,000 daily users, its interface and usability is always evolving.
You probably have seen people using these updates to spice up their daily stories, but may not know how fun they are to use and customise yourself. Check out how we love using Instagram stories.
Let’s start with a picture. Here’s one of our fabulous NYLON Singapore office sign with a Christmas wreath dangling from it:
No offence NYLON Singapore, but this photo’s pretty basic. Sure, it’s a beautiful sign (winks!), but it doesn’t say much about how we feel towards it. Stories is all about showing off our personality, but this picture surely isn’t doing ours justice.
Filters New York, Tokyo and Melbourne
The most basic way to increase the visual interest of our stories is by applying in-app filters to our pictures. This can be done simply by swiping left or right through the numerous filters on Instagram, named by famous cities around the world that somehow give off a relevant vibe to the filter its attached to.
If the picture isn’t speaking the thousand words you’re looking for, why not add text to your stories? Type out a snappy caption-like opinion and as a nod to SEO tag the relevant people, places or brands featured in your photo as a mini shoutout.
If you want your words to stand out, click the A on the right top hand corner of the screen to highlight your text, and play with colours to improve readability. Resize your text to fit the layout of your story, and add as many text boxes as you need to tell a story. Click on the font name on the center top of the screen to change it.
Otherwise, select the pen tool and hold on the screen for five seconds to turn your entire story into a coloured background. Include fun time-sensitive stickers, or even roll a poll to get people’s feedback on silly questions you may have that day. Look at what a simple bombardment of text, emojis and colour can add to your story, all done within a matter of seconds!
There’re also other ways of presenting our stories that we can’t stop using! Going Live is one way to show our stories in real time, so if we want to interact with our followers while we’re applying makeup at home or in a cab on the way to a party it’s a great option to kill time.
Boomerang
Boomerangs are a super cute way to add motion to your stories. These GIFs capture three seconds of action and play them on a loop, so it’s important to look extra camera ready and strike a pose for them!
Stop-Motion
This is stop-motion without fuss. Just snap several pictures and Instagram instantly pieces them together to form a cohesive story.
Superzoom
Okay, we have a soft spot for the Superzoom. Depending on when you use this feature they’re a myriad of Superzoom music options, from dreamy kindergarten bedtime music to punchy club beats. This one’s extra dramatic and spruces up even the most boring of life’s moments.
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