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Charlotte, more recognizable by her handle @thespectrumgirl, posted her thoughts about how this will impact small businesses and creators like herself. Like other creators, she doesn’t understand the reasoning behind “adding a bunch of unnecessary steps” as it impacts “the most important function for small creators”.
Interestingly enough, users can now share tweets to Instagram Stories, but can’t share Instagram posts, while you can also share IGTV previews, but not normal feed updates. The fact that Instagram is prepared to reduce this appears to be a positive indicator for its development emphasis - but it could also imply that because of such shares, people are visiting Stories less, prompting Instagram to act.
How Do You Share A Post Now?
With the addition of extra steps, it's a little bit confusing, to say the least.
Previously, all you had to do to repost from your feed to stories was select your post and click the triangular "share" button next to the "like" and "comment" symbols. However, the "share" button is no longer available for many people.
Instead, Instagram is experimenting with a "reshare" sticker that allows you to share a post with a few more steps. If you want to share a post from your feed to your story, you must first go to your Instagram story and either take a photo or pick a background for your post. Then, in the upper right corner of the screen, select the smiling icon and seek for the "reshare" option. When you select the "reshare" sticker, a sequence of posts that you've recently seen will appear. Choose which one you'd like to add, and it'll appear as a sticker on top of the background you've chosen.
What You Need to Do
Instagram says it's only a limited test for now, with only a small percentage of users seeing the new option in their Stories sticker tray. Instagram’s main message is that users should stop sharing content from other people and instead create their own, using the app's many features.
With this change it’s important for small businesses to adapt. Other business users have stated that adding Reels to their content mix has resulted in large reach increases, ultimately feeding into Instagram's development focus. Instagram Reels is a content type that allows you to create and share short, engaging videos that don't delete after 24 hours, unlike Instagram Stories.
Despite being dubbed a "TikTok clone," Instagram Reels have received great feedback from influencers, brands, and consumers. Many creators embraced Reels while simultaneously expanding their TikTok presence. AR effects, speed settings, and the ability to align multi-clip films for better transitions are just a few of the creative options available in Reels.
Basically, if you want to get the most out of Instagram, it can be worth developing unique content, as well as thinking about how Instagram's latest additions and tools might fit into your strategy.
Our biggest piece of advice to small businesses thinking this will hold them back, is use this as a chance to increase your creativity and divert your attention to the ways Instagram can be utilised to the highest remark. Take advantage of the Reels feature, shop feature, geotags and even your stories.
