Instagram Story
Also called Stories, Instagram Stories, story highlights
What is an Instagram Story?
An Instagram Story is a full-screen vertical photo or short video shared to Instagram that disappears after 24 hours. Stories appear in a row of circles at the top of the app and play one after another. They support stickers for polls, questions, links, countdowns and product tags, which makes them good for quick, casual updates.
Stories use a 9:16 format at 1080 by 1920 pixels, with the top and bottom of the screen covered by the profile name, reply bar and stickers. Keeping text inside a central safe zone avoids it being hidden. Video Stories are split into segments of up to about a minute each.
Story Highlights let you save Stories permanently on your profile in named collections, such as Menu, Reviews or FAQ. Facebook, WhatsApp and other apps offer similar disappearing formats.
Why an Instagram Story matters
Stories are seen mostly by existing followers, so they are a way to stay top of mind and build a relationship rather than reach new people. Their casual nature suits behind-the-scenes moments, daily specials and quick announcements.
Interactive stickers create direct conversation, and the link sticker gives every account a clickable link, making Stories one of the easiest ways to send followers to a website.
How to use Instagram Stories for business
- Post a few Stories most days to stay visible at the top of followers' apps.
- Use polls and question stickers to start conversations.
- Add a link sticker when you want people to visit a page.
- Keep text in the middle of the frame, away from the top and bottom bars.
- Save your most useful Stories to Highlights such as Reviews, Prices or How to book.
Instagram Story FAQ
How long do Instagram Stories last?
24 hours, unless you add them to a Highlight on your profile, where they stay until you remove them. Archived Stories stay visible to you privately.
What are Story Highlights?
Collections of past Stories saved on your profile below the bio. Businesses use them for menus, prices, reviews, FAQs and how-to guides.
Related terms
The Instagram story size is 1080×1920 pixels, a 9:16 vertical frame. Keep text and buttons out of the top and bottom edges, where the app overlays UI.
Instagram Reels are short vertical videos on Instagram, shown in a full-screen feed that recommends them to people who do not follow you.
A safe zone is the area of a video or image where text and key content will not be hidden by platform buttons, captions or cropping.
Vertical video is video taller than it is wide, usually 9:16 at 1080x1920 pixels, made to fill a phone screen on Reels, TikTok, Shorts and Stories.
Link in bio is the single clickable link in a social profile, often pointing to a landing page that lists several links, offers or products.
Community management is engaging with your audience on social media: replying to comments and messages, moderating and building relationships.