Facebook Stories are a popular way to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. One limitation of Stories is that you can’t tag other Facebook friends in them like you can in regular posts and photos. There are a few reasons why Facebook has not enabled tagging in Stories.
Facebook Wants Stories to be More Personal
One of the main intentions behind Stories is that they are meant to be more personal and intimate sharing between you and your closest connections. Facebook product manager Tom Alison explained this approach when Stories launched in 2017:
“With stories, we’re going back to this idea of sharing between just close friends, rather than the world. We’ve seen people embrace stories in messaging apps as a more private format for sharing. We’re adopting this model more broadly with Facebook stories.”
Allowing tagging would make Stories feel more like a public broadcast rather than a personal glimpse into your life. The lack of tagging features helps reinforce that Stories are for your eyes only and not meant to be blasted out to all your contacts.
Tagging Could Lead to Harassment and Unwanted Sharing
Another reason Facebook may have avoided tagging in Stories is to prevent harassment and unwanted sharing. Tagging sometimes allows content to be spread in ways the original poster did not intend. For example, someone could screenshot a Story they are tagged in and share it with others without consent.
Since Stories disappear in 24 hours, there is less opportunity for them to go viral or get into the wrong hands. The ephemeral nature of Stories gives users more control over who sees them and for how long. Adding tagging could disrupt that balance.
Facebook Wants to Avoid Notification Overload
Getting tagged in posts and photos on Facebook triggers notifications to the tagged users. These types of notifications can become overwhelming and annoying if you get tagged frequently.
Facebook product manager Tom Alison hinted that avoiding notification fatigue was a factor in the decision not to allow tagging in Stories:
“One of the pieces of feedback that we got very early on was that people didn’t want to have to manage yet another notification for Facebook. There’s definitely a simplicity argument here.”
Without tagging enabled, users don’t have to worry about getting bombarded with notifications whenever they are mentioned in a Story.
Tagging Would Clutter the Minimalist Interface
The Facebook Stories interface is designed to be clean and distraction-free, putting the focus on full-screen photos and videos. Tagging names and profile icons could clutter up that minimalist presentation.
Product designer Eric Bailey explained it this way:
“We wanted to create a full-screen, immersive experience optimized for visual content. Extraneous UI elements like tagging detract from that goal. We may revisit additional functionality later after we see how people enjoy the simple sharing Stories enables.”
For now, Facebook is keeping Stories simple without extra bells and whistles like tagging. The uncluttered interface makes it easy to flip through Stories and engage with visual content.
It’s More Difficult to Moderate at Scale
With hundreds of millions of people using Stories, Facebook has to be very careful about features that could enable abuse. Tagging provides more opportunities for harassment, bullying, unauthorized sharing, and other violations of Facebook’s community standards.
Moderating and enforcing content policies is much more difficult at scale when tagging enters the equation. Facebook’s Global Head of Safety Antigone Davis said:
“We closely reviewed potential safety risks before launching Stories. Allowing tagging would escalate a number of issues, so we’re not supporting it for now. As with any new product, we’ll continue evaluating how people use Stories and make changes if necessary.”
Facebook Wants Focus on Its Own Stories Feature First
Facebook was relatively late to the Stories party after Snapchat pioneered the format. When Facebook Stories first launched in 2017, tagging may have been left out to differentiate the feature from Snapchat and focus people on the core Stories experience.
Facebook often rolls out new products in bare bone format at first so people can get used to core functionality rather than being overwhelmed by too many options. Startup advisor Eric Ries dubbed this the “minimum viable product” strategy.
Over time as Facebook Stories matures, the company may incorporate more interactive capabilities like tagging. But initially, keeping it simple encouraged adoption of Stories themselves rather than all the potential add-ons.
Tagging Would Create Extra Work for Creators
Many creators and businesses use Stories to promote their brands and share entertaining or informative content. Expecting them to manually tag everyone that appears in their Stories adds substantial extra work.
This extra effort could discourage high-volume Story posters and cause them to avoid the format altogether. TikTok creator Marcus Taylor shared his thoughts:
“As someone who posts 10-15 Stories a day, tagging everyone would be really time consuming. I can spread my content out more easily without worrying about tagging every person, brand, and location.”
The current system allows creators to focus on great Stories content rather than getting bogged down with complicated coordination and approvals from potential tags.
Tagging Standards Are Still Developing
Tagging norms around consent and attribution are still evolving across social platforms. Rather than codifying tagging practices immediately for Stories, Facebook is taking a wait-and-see approach.
Their Head of Privacy Policy Management Sarah Zhang stated:
“Tagging is a relatively new form of interacting online, and there are still open questions around etiquette and privacy expectations. We want to align our products with emerging social norms rather than imposing policy too early while best practices are still forming.”
As other apps experiment with tagging in Stories and user preferences crystallize, Facebook will likely reevaluate. For now, they are avoiding potential missteps by holding off until social consensus develops.
Bottom Line
Here are the key reasons why tagging is not an option for Facebook Stories:
- Maintains the personal, intimate sharing purpose of Stories
- Prevents unwanted sharing and harassment issues
- Avoids notification overload for users
- Keeps the minimalist interface clean
- Makes moderation and policy enforcement more feasible
- Allows focus on the Stories format itself first
- Reduces extra work for creators and businesses
- Waits for tagging norms and best practices to evolve
Overall, Facebook determined that the potential downsides of enabling Story tagging for now outweigh the benefits. Their priorities are introducing Stories in their simplest, most private form while avoiding disruption to users. But as with any Facebook feature, there is always a chance tagging could be enabled later once people get comfortable with Stories.
Will Tagging Ever Come to Facebook Stories?
Despite the reasons not to allow Story tagging, there are some signs Facebook may incorporate it down the road:
- Other apps like Instagram and WhatsApp have introduced tagging in Stories, and Facebook may follow suit for feature parity.
- As more users adopt Stories, the moderation and harassment issues may be seen as manageable.
- People enjoy tagging for crediting creators and brands that make entertaining Stories.
- 250 million businesses use Facebook and may want tagging for sponsorship and partnerships.
While there is no concrete indication Facebook will ever add tagging to Stories, the feature has become commonplace on other platforms. If user expectations and demands shift, Facebook may rethink their stance.
For now, the inability to tag people in Stories is an intentional choice by Facebook based on their priorities for the product. But that could certainly change depending on how Stories evolve and integrate into people’s use of Facebook.
Workarounds to Tag People in Your Facebook Story
If you really want to tag someone in a Facebook Story, there are a couple “hacks” you can use:
Mention Them in the Caption
When you share a Story, you have the option of adding a caption. You can type out a mention of the person’s name in the caption text. It won’t tag and notify them like a post, but it does allow shouting them out in your Story.
Quickly Switch to Your Post
Another workaround is to quickly tap the “Your Story” icon after sharing a Story to exit Story mode. This will bring you back to your normal Facebook feed and posts where you can tag people as usual. You can then jump right back into Stories.
With a little extra effort, these methods allow you to mimic tagging in Stories. But an official tagging feature would certainly make it much easier.
How to See Who Viewed Your Facebook Story
While you can’t tag people in Stories, you can see who has viewed your Facebook Stories. To see the list of viewers:
- Go to your Facebook Story
- Swipe up on the Story
- Tap on the eye icon in the bottom left
This will show you a list of your Facebook friends who have viewed that particular Story. There is no way to see exactly who viewed your entire Story archive, but this lets you check in on individual Stories.
Should Facebook Add Tagging to Stories?
The ability to tag people in Stories has pros and cons. On one hand, it makes Stories more interactive, fun, and easier to give credit. But on the other, it can lead to problems around privacy, harassment, and unwanted sharing if misused.
Overall, Facebook seems to be taking a cautious approach by holding off for now. As Stories evolve, we’ll see if users request and expect the ability to tag friends in their ephemeral Stories just like in permanent posts.
For creators and businesses, unlocking tagging could make Stories more powerful for collaborations, sponsors, and community building. But regular people may prefer keeping their Stories private without digital tags that can extend their reach.
How do you feel about potentially having the ability to tag people in Facebook Stories? Would you enjoy tagging friends, or do you think it should remain limited? Let us know your thoughts!