- Lawrence Ng
Instagram To Replace the Swipe Up Feature With Link Stickers, Possibly Allowing Everybody To Use It
Updated: Aug 27, 2021
Starting 30 August 2021, Instagram will say goodbye to the swipe up feature and hello to link stickers. These are clickable stickers that people can place on their IG stories to direct viewers to an external website.
The social media platform said that it will retire the swipe up feature to streamline how stories are created and provide more “creative control” to users, as they can edit the stickers but not the swipe up gesture.
In June 2021, Instagram began testing the link stickers for users including those who were not eligible for the swipe up function, showing that they could be open to allowing every user access to the feature in a future update. Users need to be verified or have at least 10,000 followers to gain access to the swipe up gesture.
Researcher Jane Manchun Wong, who has been known for breaking news on features social media sites are developing, tweeted that Instagram is removing the swipe up gesture. YouTube personality Sam Sheffer replied to Wong’s tweet with a picture of an Instagram notification that informed him that the swipe up links will turn into stickers.
During the time of the test, Instagram’s then-Head of Product Vishal Shah said that the link stickers are compatible with the way people use the app. He added that the company aims to make the stickers available to more users.
Another big difference between the swipe up gesture and the link stickers is that viewers can reply to stories with the stickers, but not those containing swipe up links.
As of now, only account owners who have swipe up privileges will receive the link sticker function. Instagram is still deciding on whether or not to roll out the stickers to more users, but we’re certainly hoping that the feature will be available to everybody soon!
Written by Sophia Lopez