Stories

Where to find stories

• At the top of Home there is a row of round photos: the story bar. The first one is Your story. The others are people you follow who have posted a story in the last 24 hours.
• Anywhere on the website, a ring around someone's profile photo means they have a story you can watch. Tap the photo to open it.
• A blue ring means there is a story you have not seen yet. A grey ring means you have seen all of that person's current stories. In the story bar, people you have fully seen move to the end of the row.

Post a photo or video story

Open the New story page in one of these ways:

• Tap Create, then Story.
• On Home, tap the small + on Your story. If you have no story at the moment, you can also tap your photo.

Then:

1. 1Tap Choose a photo or video and pick a file.
2. 2For a photo, you can add text and stickers (see the next section). For a video, you see a plain preview. Tap Change to pick a different file.
3. 3If you want, type a web address in Link (optional). It shows as an Open link button on your story.
4. 4Tap Share at the top of the page.

A photo story is added at once and you see Added to your story. A video story is first prepared by Sikhami's servers. You see Your video is on its way. It will appear in your story once it is ready.

Rules for video stories

• A video story must be from 5 seconds to 1 minute long.
• If it is longer, you see Story videos can be up to 1 minute long. If it is shorter, you see Story videos must be at least 5 seconds long.
• On the website you cannot add text or stickers to a video story.

You can post as many stories as you like. Use the + on Your story to add another one. The website does not make text-only stories: to share words, add text on top of a photo.

Add text and stickers to a photo

After you choose a photo, buttons appear on top of it:

• Add text (Aa): adds a text block in the middle. Type your words in the box below the photo.
• Sticker: opens a tray of 16 emoji stickers. Tap one to add it.
• Change: picks a different photo. This removes the text and stickers you added.

Tap a text block or sticker to select it. Then you can:

• Drag it to a new place on the photo.
• Pick a colour from the row of colour dots (text only).
• Pick a font: Classic, Type or Elegant (text only).
• Tap Highlight to put a coloured band behind the text (text only).
• Move the Size slider to make it bigger or smaller.
• Tap the bin icon to remove it.

When you tap Share, the text and stickers become part of the picture. You cannot edit them after you share the story.

Share a clip to your story

1. 1Open a clip and tap the paper plane on its right side.
2. 2In the Share sheet, tap Your story.
3. 3You see Added to your story.

The story plays the clip and shows a Watch clip button that opens the full clip. Members-only clips cannot be shared to a story.

Who can see your story

• Your story appears in the story bar on the Home page of people who follow you.
• If your account is public, other signed-in people can also open your story by tapping the ring on your photo, for example on your profile or next to your posts.
• If your account is private, the ring on your photo is shown only to your followers. See Private account and follow requests.
• People you have blocked, and people who blocked you, are not shown in each other's story bar.
• After 24 hours your story leaves the story bar and the ring. It is kept in your story archive, which only you can see, and it stays in any highlight you added it to.

When someone watches your story, they appear in your list of viewers. See Story insights.

Watch stories

Tap a photo in the story bar, or a photo with a ring, to open the story viewer.

• A photo shows for 5 seconds. A video plays to its end. Thin bars at the top show how many stories the person has and where you are.
• Tap the right side of the story to go forward, and the left side to go back.
• Press and hold on the story to pause it. Let go to continue.
• On a computer you can also use the right and left arrow keys, and press Esc to close.
• After the last story of one person, the next person's stories start.
• Tap the person's name at the top to open their profile. Tap the cross to close the viewer.

Between people's stories you may see a story marked Sponsored. See Sponsored content.

React, reply and follow

• React: tap the heart at the bottom right and pick one of six reactions: ❤️ 🔥 👏 😂 😮 💡. Tap the same one again to remove it, or another one to change it. The person gets a notification that you liked their story.
• Reply: type in the box Reply to (their name) at the bottom and tap send. Your reply goes to their Messages as a direct message about that story. You see Reply sent.
• Follow: if you do not follow the person, a Follow button shows next to their name at the top.
• Open link: if the story has a link, tap this button to open it in a new tab.
• Share: tap the paper plane at the top to share the story in a chat or copy a link.

You cannot reply to your own story.

Delete or keep your story

Open your own story. At the top you see extra buttons: Add to highlight (a bookmark with a plus) and Delete story (a bin).

1. 1Tap the bin.
2. 2Confirm Delete this story? with Delete.
3. 3You see Story deleted.

A deleted story is removed for everyone. It also leaves your archive and every highlight it was in. You cannot edit a story after you share it: delete it and post a new one.

To keep a story on your profile after 24 hours, add it to a highlight. See Story highlights and archive.

Questions