Instagram stories in the main Facebook app, further blurring the lines between the two social media services, at least for now. An air of mystery surrounds the long-term goals behind the test, but by directly ing the features of both, Facebook might be breaking new ground.

Previously, social media apps and services have more or less kept to themselves and not shared their functionality directly. Facebook has an advantageous position in this market, considering it owns Instagram, giving it more freedom to play with what it can offer. Being a powerful player already, it's not hard to imagine why it would be trying to keep the main app dynamic and try new things that aren't seen with competing services. In other words, while someone could use any social media app and service, by choosing Facebook they potentially have the opportunity to get content from multiple social media services.

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existing security settings and that one can choose whether to make their own Stories available for viewing on Facebook. As it stands, availability of the feature will remain limited, while Facebook awaits community to better understand how to proceed with it.

Facebook & Instagram's Overlapping Features

FB IG

The decision to bring Instagram stories to Facebook may leave some scratching their heads, but it could also be a Facebook owning Instagram, it makes sense that it could benefit from such an arrangement, if that's what it's going for.

In addition, this is also good news for natives of Facebook and Instagram. No matter what speculation Facebook earns for the decision to show off Instagram Stories, taking part in the new feature isn't mandatory and opting in shouldn't have an adverse effect on the personal security settings already in place. For now, people can view both sets of posts in one place and there are definitely those who stand to benefit from the increased exposure. If the test goes well, and the community takes to it, Instagram could well run an experiment of its own and allow Facebook s to share their Stories too.

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Source: Matt Navarra/Twitter