Avoiding Stories is getting even harder as they’re coming to Telegram

June 27, 2023

2 min read

Those temporary photos and videos known as Stories are everywhere these days. Popularized by Snapchat and Instagram, it seems that every social network has decided to have its own version of Stories. And if you’re not a fan of this feature, avoiding it will be even harder. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced this week that he’s bringing temporary photos and videos to his app.

Telegram Stories

In a message shared on his Telegram channel, Durov said that more than half of the feature requests submitted by users ask for a Stories feature. “Initially, we were against this since Stories are already everywhere. However, Telegram wouldn’t be Telegram if we didn’t listen to our users and didn’t innovate on existing formats,” Durov mentioned.

So how will Telegram Stories work? Well, pretty much the same way you would expect. Users will be able to share photos and videos that disappear after a while. However, Telegram is trying to do more than its competitors. For example, users can choose whether a Story will expire after 6, 12, 24, or 48 hours. Most apps make Stories disappear after 24 hours.

And while Instagram has one public feed for Stories and another for Close Friends, Telegram will let users create lists with different contacts for each Story. This means that you can share a specific Story with your best friends and another one just for your co-workers.

The interface is similar to what you find in other apps that already offer Stories, with a list of available Stories at the top of the list of chats. Users will have the option to react and reply to a Story. Reposting content from a channel on Telegram Stories will also be an option once the feature becomes available.

According to Durov, “even the skeptics on our team started to appreciate this feature. We can no longer imagine Telegram without it.” Telegram Stories will be available for users starting next month.

Would you use Stories on Telegram? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.