Instagram Now Lets Users Reply to Their Friends' Stories Using GIFs From Giphy

Now there's one more reason to respond to your friends' Instagram Stories.

By Harpreet Singh | Updated: 5 February 2020 20:30 IST

Instagram Now Lets Users Reply to Their Friends' Stories Using GIFs From Giphy

Instagram now lets users reply to stories with GIFs from Giphy

Highlights

Instagram users will need to update the app to use the new feature
Users can respond to stories using GIFs
Instagram reportedly generated $20 billion in revenues in 2019

Facebook's photo-sharing app Instagram reportedly generated $20 billion in advertising revenue last year, more than what Google's YouTube made. Instagram was acquired by Facebook in 2012 and since then the app has evolved from being just a photo-sharing app to a full-blown platform, after Facebook copied the Stories format from Snapchat, and added a bunch of new features. Facebook's Instagram has now added a new feature that lets users reply to others' Stories using GIF images (or GIFs). Instagram is collaborating with Giphy to enable the feature on its platform.

Until now, Instagram users were able to use GIFs from Giphy as stickers in their Stories. Instagram announced the new feature via a tweet. Users will need to update the app on their Android or iOS devices to use it. The feature will allow users to reply to their friends' Stories using GIFs from Giphy.

Instagram had earlier added support for Giphy to its direct messages feature back in 2018. The new feature now brings a similar capability but for Stories. GIFs can sometimes be a better way to respond to your friends' Stories than simple words or the default set of emojis. Giphy has a large database of GIF images for just about any possible reaction you could think of.

PSA: You can now reply to your friends' stories using @GIPHY GIFs! Update your app to try it.

— Instagram (@instagram) February 4, 2020

Earlier this year, Instagram said it is currently testing direct messaging on the Web. That would be another useful feature. The photo-sharing app has so far restricted a large chunk of its functionality when it comes to the Web. The Facebook-owned app also removed the annoying IGTV button from the app's home screen last month due to low traction.

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Harpreet Singh

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Harpreet is the community manager at Gadgets 360. He loves all things tech, and can be found hunting for good deals when he is not shopping online. He has written about deals and e-commerce in India for many years, as well as covering social media and breaking technology news. More