Instagram’s new ‘Add Yours’ Stories sticker wants to encourage public discussions

Instagram is rolling out a new sticker in Stories called ‘Add Yours’, which will allow users to participate in public threads on the platform.

In Instagram’s tweet about the new feature, we can see an account using Add Yours to show their ‘Outfit of the Day’. Tapping the sticker lets you see who has responded to the Add Yours prompt, and the responses to the Story are publicly visible.

You can join the chain simply by clicking the ‘Add Yours’ button and uploading your own story in response.

“With custom prompts and public responses, you can share the sticker and see who responds to it in their own Stories,” said Instagram in its tweet.

To find the new feature, record a Story and select the sticker icon from the top navigation bar. You’ll then see the new Add Yours sticker, where you’ll be able to add a caption and prompt others to start a thread.

Do keep in mind though that this feature is currently rolling out, so it may not be visible on your app just yet.

Why Instagram wants you to join the conversation

Instagram’s new sticker appears to be a way for allowing more interaction between users by creating a visual thread on a subject – and by making the responses publicly visible, it’s another way for users to discover more accounts to follow.

With competitors such as TikTok and Snapchat gaining on Instagram (and proving to be more popular among teenagers, according to one US study) it makes sense that Instagram is looking for ways to re-engage a younger audience.

Documents obtained by The New York Times show that the photo-sharing app views the loss of the teen users as detrimental to its business: “If we lose the teen foothold in the US we lose the pipeline,” read one marketing memo.

With Instagram reportedly dedicating the majority of its annual marketing budget to targeting teens, it appears that the Add Yours feature is a new piece of that strategy.