What is a Story Post?
A story post is a full-screen, vertical photo or video that disappears after 24 hours. It is not a smaller carousel. It has one job: get the tap through to the post, the product, or the next frame.
9:16
Full-screen, not a feed crop
24 hours
Then it comes down
Tap-through
What a story is for
Same source
As the feed post it points to
Stories
Vertical and tappable
Full-screen stories that tease the post and drive the tap through to it.
Tap through to the post.
Today, in one frame.
What it is
A frame with somewhere to go
A story is not a smaller carousel. It is a full-screen interrupt with one job: get the tap through to the post, the product, or the next frame.
They work when they match the feed. A story written from the same source as the carousel feels like part of the week, not a leftover graphic.
Use a story when
- You have a feed post worth sending people to
- The photo or product shot already exists
- You want something up today without a permanent post
- You are teasing a carousel, a clip, or an offer
Use another format when
- The idea should stay in the grid — that is a carousel or static image
- You need a line people can screenshot — that is a quote card
- The argument is long — that is a text post
- You want search and saves — stories disappear
Per channel
Full-screen on the channels that still use stories
Stories are written at 9:16 with room for the tap target. Instagram and Facebook get them as stories; the same frames can run as a vertical post where stories are not the habit.
What good looks like
What a story that gets the tap looks like
One frame, one job
A story that tries to teach on the first frame loses the tap. Tease, then send them through.
Type that holds at arm’s length
Stories are read on a phone in a queue. If the line needs a squint, it is too long.
A reason to tap
“New carousel up” is not a reason. The payoff on the other side is.
A sequence, not a dump
Two or three frames that build. A ten-frame dump gets skipped.
How it gets made
From the same source as the feed post
- 01Use the source you already handed overThe call, photo, or prompt that made the carousel can make the story in the same pass.
- 02Pick stories with the other formatsThey come back as a set so the tease and the post match.
- 03Check the cropFull-screen type and the tap target. Edit the line if it crowds the photo.
- 04Publish for the dayStories go up when you approve them. They come down on their own.
FAQs
Stories, answered
A story post is a full-screen, vertical (9:16) photo or video that disappears after 24 hours. On Instagram and Facebook, stories sit at the top of the app, outside the feed. Use one to point people at a post, a product or a link.
Make the story that belongs with the post.
Same source as the carousel or quote card. Full-screen, written for the tap through.