Starting on August 30, Instagram is getting rid of the “swipe-up” link in favor of a sticker that will direct your followers to a link of your choosing, as spotted by app researcher Jane Manchun Wong on Monday. However, the new link feature will still only be available to certain accounts that are either verified or have at least 10,000 followers. The Link Sticker initially was announced as a small test in June, but the platform was also testing letting anyone—regardless of verification or follower count—add a link to their Stories. It’s unclear if Instagram will open the new Link Sticker to more accounts aside from what is currently allowed. TechCrunch notes that some benefits of a Link Sticker over the traditional swipe-up link style include users having greater control over their Stories. Stickers allow you to choose their size and style, and place them anywhere within your Story to improve the chances of people clicking it. You already can add a slew of different types of stickers within your Story, including one to ask for donations, a music player sticker, polls, questions, countdowns to important events, and more. Stories is one of Instagram’s most popular features, and the social network has been testing different updates and changes, including removing the ability to share feed posts in your Stories.
