Instagram Rolls Out 'Private Story Likes' Feature; Check What's New

Instagram is rolling out an all-new feature called Private Story Likes, which lets you like someone's Insta Story without sending them a DM. Previously, any reply you sent to someone on a Story, whether it was an emoji or a full message, would appear as a reply in their DM inbox; With this latest feature, you can show some appreciation and love for a Story without obstructing the user's DMs.

"So now, as you go through Stories, between sending a message and that little paper airplane, there will be a heart icon," Adam Mosseri, Instagram head shared in a video. "And if you tap on it, it'll send the author of that story a like, and that like will show up in the viewer sheet, not in your DM thread with them."

Notably, Stories won't have similar counts, which is a very different approach than what Instagram has chosen for top user feeds. Instagram (now under the Meta umbrella) spent more than two years testing hiding similar counts in the main feed before making the decision to leave them on by default, though users can choose to hide them in their posts.

For Story Likes, you won't see a public tally, though you can see who left a Like on your Stories when you look at a Story's view sheet.