According to Instagram, the change was made to help users share things that matter with their friends and family. “From organizing and educating around equity, social justice, and mental well-being to showcasing new product drops to customers, link sharing is helpful in many ways — so now we’re giving access to everyone,” wrote the company on its blog post.
To add a link to your Instagram Stories, you first need to create a Story from the Story creation interface. Now, access the sticker tool and click on the new ‘Link’ sticker. You can then paste the URL in the textbox that appears on the next screen.
You can choose to strategically resize or reposition the link sticker from the story preview screen for better user engagement. Once you have posted the story, viewers can tap the sticker to access the link.
The development doesn’t entirely come as a surprise since Instagram was previously considering the option of letting everyone add links to Stories. The move should help budding creators easily share links with their followers without having to redirect them to a link in their bio. You can check our detailed guide on how to add links to Instagram Stories to know why the company has replaced swipe-up links with link stickers.