Life

Instagram's Newest Feature Lets You Start A Group Chat Right From Your Story

by Annakeara Stinson
Instagram

Just when you think the 'gram couldn't get more interactive, it drops a brand spankin' new sticker that makes connecting just a little bit livelier and, you know, more immediate. If you want to know how to use Instagram's new stories sticker to do a group chat with some of your fave followers, my friends, look no further. You'll be debating over the cuteness level of your cats and getting compliments on the jumpsuit you're trying on literally right this second, before you can say "hashtag social media!" It's a Story lover's dream come true.

Using the feature in all its glory is super simple. Basically, the new sticker allows your followers to instantly tap into a conversation from within Stories. The sticker option is aptly labeled “Chat,” and it allows anyone who is peeping at that Story to request to join a DM conversation connected to the post. And for the sake of privacy and all that good stuff, the original poster (that means you) is still able to see and approve all the requests flowing in from followers, family, and IRL pals. So you're not going to have any creepers to worry about, which is always important.

To make this whole chat thing happen right now, when you post a new Story, you just click the Sticker button on the top right corner of Insta, where you'll now see the new Chat sticker. Name the chat, post it onto your Story, and Voila! It's time to communicate. The chat requests from your followers will be flooding in with gusto as they see you are oh-so-ready to talk.

Once you accept or reject the requests, all the people you've accepted requests from will enter into a little DM chatroom so that the brilliance and hilarity can commence. And the chatroom isn't totally dissimilar to the chatrooms you can already create in Messages, it's just now happening via the instant reactions to your Stories. Pretty cool, no? Instagram also posted a little video to Twitter showing how the new sticker works and describing just some of the scenarios when it might come in handy.

And FYI, you can totally remove anyone from the chat or add anyone into the convo at anytime, and as the grand chat master, you can also shut the whole thing down whenever you please.

Ready to try it yet?

In case you're wondering why the Facebook owned platform has decided to keep expanding its chatting options, according to Tech Crunch, this new development could be Instagram's way of competing with SnapChat after the discontinuation of the stand-alone Instagram DM app. Only time will tell.

But really, let's think of all the communication possibilities that this new sticker might offer us. You could very theoretically join a chat with that Insta crush you've never seen in the flesh, or you could join a chat with like, Justin Bieber. If he accepts your request, of course. Here's to a wild summer of happy chatting my Instagrammin' friends!