Introducing Polls in Instagram Stories

Today we’re introducing an interactive poll sticker in Instagram Stories that lets you ask a question and see results from your friends and followers as they vote.

Whether you’re trying to plan tomorrow’s outfit, choosing which class to take or figuring out where to go for dinner, now it’s easy to share a two-option poll right in your story. After you’ve taken a photo or video for your story, select the “poll” sticker and place it anywhere you’d like – you can write out your own question and even customize the poll choices.

After you’ve shared your poll, your friends and followers can immediately start voting and see real-time results. Once someone has voted on your poll, they’ll see which choice is in the lead at any given moment. And if they watch your story again later, they’ll see the latest results.

To see your own poll results, swipe up to open the viewers list for that part of your story. There you’ll see everything you need to get the best answer for your question. Not only will you see how many votes each option received, but you’ll also see who voted and what option they chose. That way, you’ll be able to compare votes from the friends and followers whose opinions you trust most. And just like your story, your poll and its results will disappear after 24 hours.

New creative tools

You’ll also see two new tools to help make your stories even more creative: a color picker for text and brushes and an alignment tool for text and stickers.

When you choose a color for your text or drawing tool, you’ll see a new eyedropper icon at the far left. Use it to select any color from your photo or video and apply it to your text or drawing tool.

Also, on iOS, when you position text or a sticker on your photo or video, new blue lines will appear to help you center it or avoid placing it anywhere that might get covered up when someone watches your story. And when you rotate text or a sticker, new guides will also help you snap your sticker back to horizontal.

Check out the Instagram Help Center to learn more about the interactive poll sticker and new creative tools.

Today’s updates are available as part of Instagram version 16 and above in Apple’s App Store and Google Play.