Definition: Stories are full-screen, vertical photos and videos that appear at the top of the app and disappear after 24 hours, unless the account saves them to a profile Highlight.
Also called: Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, story
Updated October 11, 2026
Stories sit in a row of circles at the top of Instagram and Facebook and are watched one frame after another with a tap. Per Instagram, a story leaves the feed and profile after 24 hours; expired stories are saved to a private archive that only the account can see, and any of them can be added to a Highlight that stays on the profile until removed.
Stories are mostly seen by people who already follow you, so they suit day-to-day updates, behind-the-scenes clips and time-limited offers. Reels are recommended to non-followers and stay on the profile, so they suit content meant to find new people. Many accounts use Reels to attract an audience and Stories to keep it.
Stories reward frequency and informality more than polish. Interactive stickers such as polls, questions and quizzes give followers an easy way to respond, and link stickers send them to a page.
A gym posts five story frames on a Monday: the class timetable, a 10-second clip of the new rowing machines, a poll (“Morning or evening classes?”), a member’s post they were tagged in, and a link sticker to book. The best frames are added to a “Classes” Highlight.
Story Highlights are collections of past Instagram Stories saved to your profile, where they stay visible after the usual 24 hours until you remove them.
Reels are short, vertical, full-screen videos on Instagram and Facebook that play with sound and are recommended to people who do not follow the account, as well as to followers.
A safe zone is the part of an image or video frame that stays visible after the app overlays its buttons, captions and profile details.
Aspect ratio is the proportional relationship between an image or video’s width and height, written as width:height (for example 4:5 or 16:9).
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