Instagram Stories Celebrates One Year Anniversary

Instagram Stories on Wednesday turned one-year and new features like birthday and celebration stickers were added to the photo-sharing app.

With over 250 million daily users, the Facebook-owned company said Instagram Stories now boasts average usage of 32 minutes per day for users under 25, and 24 minutes per day for those 25 and up.

“A year ago today we introduced stories to Instagram. With more than 250 million daily users, stories made Instagram a place for people to share all of their moments – the highlights and everything in between,” the company said in a blog post.

“Stories has also helped increase the amount of time people spend on Instagram. Those under the age of 25 spend more than 32 minutes a day on Instagram, on average, while those age 25 and older spend more than 24 minutes a day.

“From stickers to Boomerang, we have rolled out more than 20 new features within Instagram Stories over the past year, making it even easier to add creativity to any photo or video and instantly share it.

“In the last month, over 50% of businesses on Instagram produced an Instagram Story. One in five organic stories from businesses gets a direct message

“Also today, we are rolling out birthday and celebration stickers in stories to give our community more ways to celebrate any milestone with friends and family.

“From all of us at Instagram, thank you for all the moments you share on Instagram Stories!”

The success of Stories led to the drop in user growth of rival company Snapchat, dropping from 17.2% per quarter to just 5%. Snap’s share price also plummeted from its $17 IPO to $13.

Snap said users under 25 spent “over 30 minutes on Snapchat every day” while users 25 and older spent “approximately 20 minutes on Snapchat every day.”

Snap stock has struggled since the company went public, and many people believe that Instagram is a major reason why.