Instagram’s swipe-up feature to disappear on 30 August
Premium- Instagram will be replacing swipe up links with link stickers, which are tappable stickers that can be used to direct users to a website.
NEW DELHI: Facebook-owned social media platform Instagram is retiring the swipe-up feature, which allowed creators and brands to direct users to third party websites. The platform has been informing its users of the same via in-app notifications and confirmed to TheVerge that the feature will disappear from 30 August.
However, the platform isn’t taking away the ability to redirect users to websites. Instagram will be replacing swipe up links with link stickers, which are tappable stickers that can be used to direct users to a website. Stickers are already used in Instagram stories and posts but can’t be hyperlinked to a website right now.
According to the company, stickers fit the way people use Instagram more than the swipe up function did. At the moment, users swipe left and right to navigate between stories, while the swipe up function is offered for advertisers and select users, who can use it to sell products, provide more information on an offer and so on.
The link stickers, which have been under test since June, may also allow any Instagram user to share a link on the platform. This could be a big change, since the swipe up function was a premium feature of sorts, being offered only to influencers with over 10,000 followers and advertisers who pay for visibility.
A spokesperson for Instagram told TheVerge that the company is “still evaluating" whether to bring the feature to more users or limit it to the top influencers and brands. The company is going to use the 30 August update to determine how to use the link stickers on the platform.
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