Telegram has delivered on its promise of introducing a Stories feature, but it’s currently only available to Premium users, as announced by the company in a tweet. CEO Pavel Durov had previously teased the upcoming feature, highlighting its unique characteristics that provide users with more control compared to Stories on other platforms.
Similar to Facebook’s Messenger, Telegram’s Stories appear as expandable bubbles at the top of the conversation list. With this feature, users can exercise granular control over who can view their Stories and for how long before they disappear. Unlike other apps, Telegram lets users choose from various visibility options, such as making Stories viewable to the public, specific contacts, Close Friends, or with exceptions. Additionally, users can add captions, links, and tag others in their Stories. Furthermore, users can simultaneously share photos and videos taken from both the front-facing and rear cameras, similar to posts on BeReal.
Telegram’s innovative approach extends to managing contacts as well. If a user prefers not to see posts from a particular contact, they can move that contact to the “Hidden” list within the contacts section. Users can also control the expiration time of their Stories, with options ranging from the standard 24 hours to 6, 12, or 48 hours. Furthermore, Stories can be set to be permanently displayed on a user’s profile page, while still having the ability to customize privacy settings for each post.
While Stories are visible to everyone, users can react to and reply to them. However, to post their own Stories, users will need to be Telegram Premium subscribers. The subscription, priced at $4.99 per month, offers additional perks like 4GB uploads, faster downloads, unique stickers, voice-to-text transcriptions, and double the follow limits. The Premium subscription, introduced last year, provides Telegram users with an enhanced experience and now includes access to the new Stories feature.
It’s worth noting that the new Stories feature may not be available in all regions immediately, as it’s likely to roll out gradually. Telegram continues to evolve and introduce innovative features, catering to its ever-growing user base, and with the addition of Stories, it aims to offer a dynamic and interactive social experience within the messaging platform.
