Instagram has added two new Explore categories: Location Stories and Hashtag Stories, letting users discover photos and videos based on places or things of interest, all from the same Explore tab.
Along with all of the videos and popular Stories you’ll find already, Location Stories and Hashtag Stories are based solely on locations you want to see or things you view often.
For example, if you search for New York City, you’ll find a story based solely on photos and videos of New York City. If you’re into Lacrosse, you can search that hashtag and potentially find a story based on that.
Story Search could open new use cases on Instagram, like checking out the weather, crowd, or what’s going on at a location right now, or seeing what people are doing or thinking about a major news topic or random theme.
Location Stories are available in search and Explore on iOS and Android, with Hashtag Stories rolling out over the next few weeks.
“From discovering new parts of your own city to jogging alongside the #fromwhereirun community all around the world, location and hashtag stories help you share these experiences as they unfold” Instagram writes.
Today’s news comes as Instagram adds another big new feature: Archive. This lets you essentially temporarily delete posts by putting them into your private Archive section of your profile only you can see, and restoring them later if you want.