The Stories format was popularized by Snapchat as a new way of sharing or storytelling on social media. It made Snapchat unique and Facebook decided to copy its formula and sprinkled it on Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and even Facebook itself.
The journey started by Facebook debuting it on Instagram a year ago, then Messenger, WhatsApp and the main app got the update last. The Stories format was limited to mobile which makes sense since you create the Stories with your smartphone cameras.
Well now, Facebook wants to view Stories on desktop as reported by TechCrunch. According to the publication, Facebook confirmed that Stories on desktop is still considered as a test and a wider rollout is expected soon.
As you can see from the above screenshot, the Stories carousel on desktop has not been placed above your NewsFeed like how we see on mobile. Instead, they have decided to place the Stories panel on the top right which is an interesting move, maybe to maximize on the widescreen estate. The question mark icon that appears on the panel will explain the feature’s purpose, which is shown when you hover your cursor over it.
You can bet that when it is finally released on a wider scale, it would be used to watch Facebook Stories and not necessarily creating these Stories, which would be odd to be honest.
Stories has been a popular format in both Instagram and WhatsApp as each have 250 million people who use it daily, surpassing Snapchat’s count. Facebook is yet to reveal how its clone is performing, maybe not as good as its subsidiaries.
