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.
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.