Instagram introduces likes for Insta Stories

Instagram is introducing a new feature called Private Story Likes, which allows users to like another user's Insta Story without sending a direct message.

Earlier, all reactions to stories were delivered to users in their DMs' inbox, however now you need not visit your inbox just for an emoji. 

Announcing the feature, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a video: “So now, as you go through Stories, between send message and that little paper airplane, there will be a heart icon..and if you tap on it, it’ll send the author of that story a like, and that like will show up in the viewer sheet, not in your DM thread with them.”

'Likes on stories are private and do not have counts. Rather, they appear as hearts next to people’s handles in your Stories view sheet', tweeted Mosseri.