Telegram tweeted on Friday that its new Stories feature is being introduced to Premium users.
The announcement came a month after Pavel Durov, Telegram’s CEO, disclosed that the communication application would incorporate the Stories feature in July. The timeline for the rollout of Stories to regular users is still uncertain.
Durov had previously acknowledged that users had been requesting the Stories function for a long time, indicating that over half of all the feature requests Telegram gets pertain to Stories.
In spite of the team’s initial resistance to introducing Stories, arguing they were “already everywhere,” Durov expressed their decision was influenced by user feedback.
Telegram’s Stories feature offers the flexibility of deciding the visibility of each story, with options including everyone, contacts, selected contacts, or a list of best friends.
Stories will be displayed in an expandable section at the top of your chat list. Users can also opt to hide any Stories from particular contacts by transferring them to the “Hidden” list within the Contacts section.
The Stories feature enables users to add captions and links, tag others, and upload photos and videos simultaneously captured from both front and rear cameras, similar to BeReal.
Durov stated that even the internal skeptics within the Telegram team have begun to appreciate the Stories feature after internal testing, adding that they cannot envisage the messaging platform without it now.
