Also called ephemeral content
Stories are full-screen posts that disappear after twenty-four hours, shown to existing followers rather than to a recommended audience.
Stories reach the people who already follow you, which makes them the opposite of short-form video: low ceiling, high intent. They are where an existing audience is told things, not where a new one is found.
Disappearance changes what fits. The standard is lower, the tone is closer, and unfinished work is welcome in a way it is not in the feed — which is precisely why stories build familiarity faster than polished posts.
They are also the main place a link can sit outside a profile, which makes them the standard vehicle for launches and reminders. Pinning a set as a highlight is what stops that work vanishing after a day.
In practice
A launch sequence across five stories to an engaged following routinely outsells a single polished feed post announcing the same thing.
Common mistake
Treating stories like the feed. Polished, impersonal stories lose the intimacy that is the format's only real advantage.
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