So, what is the Instagram Playback everyone is sharing and how do you access it?

Be prepared to be triggered by cursed memories


Instagram has hopped on the trend of reviewing the past year and has released Instagram Playback allowing users to look back at their stories of the last year. And let’s just say Spotify Wrapped it ain’t.

The new feature was released yesterday and will run until 31st December. Playback allows you to reflect on the mundane and meaningful moments of the year by showing you a number of stories from the last 12 months.

via Instagram

When you first log onto Instagram you’re presented with the Playback feature and shown a selection of stories. You can then choose the stories to put together and show your followers.

There doesn’t appear to be a specific reason why some stories are selected, however people are theorising the stories have been selected if they contain a number of tags.

However the randomness of the stories selected has caused many people to criticise and joke about the feature. One person on Twitter said they were shown a picture of them crying as the first picture of the year and called Instagram “sick and twisted”. Another said they were just shown pictures and videos of their ex.

If you don’t mind being triggered by Instagram stories of the past, then this is how to access your Instagram Playback:

1. Open Instagram.

2. The “Instagram Playback” banner should pop up at the top of your screen.

3. If it does pop up you can simply select it and go through your top moments.

4. If it doesn’t pop up immediately then you can access it anytime you see someone else share the orange and purple tile on their story and click on the 2021 sticker to access yours.

Featured image credit before edits Ashley Whitlatch/Unsplash

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