Instagram will soon suggest Stories from people you don't follow

Instagram's obvious bid to compete with Snapchat by launching a Stories feature was, apparently, just the beginning.

Now the app will harness the power of Facebook's algorithmic expertise to begin surfacing Instagram Stories from people you don't already follow, according to a report from Techcrunch.

The suggestions will appear at the top of your screen and will be based primarily on your interests and the people you follow on the app.

When contacted by Mashable, the company confirmed that the reported changes are coming. Suggestions will also be drawn from Stories that are popular on that day, accounts with frequently popular Stories, as well as Stories from accounts that already come up in your current Explore grid.

Adding a suggested users feature is an aggressive move into old territory in social media, one that has been met with varying degrees of enthusiasm, depending on the platform. For example, Twitter's early suggested users list was the source of much debate around the issue of possible favoritism that might give some users an advantage over others in terms of growing their followers.

However, because this new Instagram Stories feature relies on your existing interests and connections, most users will likely welcome the addition, which would appear to mirror the behavior of the suggested users feature on Facebook, Instagram's parent company.

"[Instagram is] testing Instagram Stories on Explore, and planning to roll it out broadly in the coming weeks," an Instagram spokesperson told Mashable.