Instagram has Valentine's Day treats for all the lovers

💕❤️‍🔥🥰😍🫶💔
 By 
Christianna Silva
 on 
Instagram’s In-App Easter Eggs for Valentine’s Day
React to my Story so I know it's real Credit: Courtesy Instagram

This Valentine's Day, Instagram has a surprise for all the lovers in the chat.

On Feb. 14 (and only on Feb. 14), the Meta-owned app is showing off some lovey-dovey Easter eggs.

Instagram Story Quick Reactions — the emojis that pop up when you view someone's Instagram story to allow you to respond to their stories with a chosen emoji, quickly — is getting a Valentine's Day glow up.


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Quick Reactions has six love-themed emojis: two hearts (💕), heart on fire (❤️‍🔥), smiling face with hearts (🥰), heart eyes (😍), heart hands (🫶), and broken heart (💔). This is a far more loving choice than the typical choice of tears of joy (😂), surprised (😮), heart eyes (😍), crying face (😢), clapping hands (👏), fire (🔥), party popper (🎉), and 100 (💯).

When someone reacts to your story with one of those Valentine’s quick reactions, you'll get a cute little animation in the DM chat thread you share with that user. And, after posting a Story, you'll see a special animation for every emoji reaction your followers send when you check out who's viewed your story.

Plus, Instagram is making it easier for users to share their profile via text, Airdrop, link, or QR code — so if you see someone hot at a bar and want to share socials, it's all the easier.

As is typical for holidays, Instagram will have Valentine’s Day stickers for Stories and Reels, and there are sure to be plenty of Valentine’s Day Add Yours Stories so you can show love for your pets, friends, and lovers.

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Christianna Silva
Senior Culture Reporter

Christianna Silva is a senior culture reporter covering social platforms and the creator economy, with a focus on the intersection of social media, politics, and the economic systems that govern us. Since joining Mashable in 2021, they have reported extensively on meme creators, content moderation, and the nature of online creation under capitalism.

Before joining Mashable, they worked as an editor at NPR and MTV News, a reporter at Teen Vogue and VICE News, and as a stablehand at a mini-horse farm. You can follow her on Bluesky @christiannaj.bsky.social and Instagram @christianna_j.

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