What Does the Red Love Sign Mean on Instagram Stories?
If you are an active Instagram user, you may have seen the red love sign under someone's story. This phenomenon is quite interesting, especially because it is often misunderstood by users. Many think that this love sign indicates a story that is going viral or getting special attention. However, this red love sign is actually related to the Instagram highlight feature and algorithm.
What is the Red Love Sign?
The red love sign on Instagram stories appears when a story comes from a user's highlights and is automatically featured by the Instagram algorithm to their friends' story feeds. In other words, the story that appears is not a new story that has just been uploaded by the user, but rather an automatic *repost* of a previously created highlight.
How Does It Work?
The highlights feature on Instagram allows users to save their stories that have expired (more than 24 hours) so that they can still be seen on their profile. However, Instagram also has an algorithm that occasionally "promotes" certain highlights from users to reappear in their friends' or followers' story feeds.
When this happens, the story is given a red love sign underneath it to indicate that it is not a new story, but rather comes from a highlight. This mark is a kind of marker so that the audience understands the context of the story.
Why Can Highlights Reappear in Stories?
Instagram uses an interaction and interest-based algorithm to determine what will be displayed in its users' story feeds. Here are some factors that can make your highlights get boosted by the algorithm:
- High Engagement: If your highlights have a lot of views, likes, or reactions when they are first uploaded, the algorithm considers them interesting to repeat.
- Relevance: Highlights that are relevant to trends or audience interests are also more likely to be boosted by the system.
- Frequency of User Activity: If you don’t upload new stories often, the algorithm may pick up your old highlights to make sure your account stays active in the eyes of your followers.
However, not all highlights will automatically be boosted by the Instagram algorithm. It depends on the preferences of the viewer and the level of engagement your account has with them.
Benefits of This Feature
This feature provides benefits for users who want their content to remain relevant and visible, even though it has been uploaded for a long time. Some of the benefits are:
- Reach New Audiences: Followers who previously missed your story have the opportunity to see it again.
- Maximize Old Content: Old content that is still interesting can get additional exposure without having to be re-uploaded manually.
Things to Note
However, there is an important thing that you need to know. Not all highlights will appear in your friends' story feeds. Only highlights selected by the Instagram algorithm get the red love mark and appear on your friends' FYP. So, if you haven't seen this feature on your account, that's normal.
End
The red love mark on Instagram stories does not mean that the story is going viral, but rather comes from a highlight that is re-promoted by the Instagram algorithm. This feature provides an opportunity for old content to be seen again and reach a wider audience. For users, this mark is a reminder that the story is not a new upload, but old content that is still relevant. So, don't be confused anymore when you see the red love mark on your friend's story!