Instagram stories is increasingly important part of the social network and it wants to be sure you see more of them. It just unveiled a revamped Explore tab that will feature personalized Stories recommendations. You won’t have to track down a specific person to watch ephemeral videos. The feature will roll out in the “coming weeks,” Instagram said, so don’t worry if you don’t see Stories right away.
Instagram Explore is getting a redesigned navigation bar up to with shortcuts to Shopping and IGTV first, followed by channels for topics like Travel, Food, and Design. In a nod to how central Instagram sees Shopping and IGTV to its future, those categories will also get big square portals inset within the Explore grid. Tapping these squares or shortcuts for Shopping reveals category filters for specific proucts like Clothing, Beauty, and Home Decor. For IGTV, they pull up an new vertical scrolling IGTV discovery grid to contrast with its old horizontal scrolling carousel.
It’s not surprising that Instagram would push Stories and other services in Explore it remains an important component of the app. More than half of Instagram users visit Explore every month, making it a showcase for Instagram’s offerings. Don’t be surprised if there’s a surge of interest in Stories, IGTV and shopping, if just because they’ll reach more eyeballs.
