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Not like the earlier days where users only had one option which was posting a picture, video or what was on their mind to their news feed. Facebook has now come up with two options, helping users to share views and pictures for a shorter duration in what is called Your Story.
Brands have usually been sharing educational content on Facebook news feed, but with the help of Your Story option, its easier for businesses to visually depict what their company is about and at frequent duration’s which keeps them up to the minute.
But what is the difference between the two? Find out in this blog.
| Differences | Facebook News Feed | Your Story or Create a Story |
| Lifetime | Lifelong, until deleted manually | 24 hours maximum |
| Placement | Below stories section, can be viewed on timeline while scrolling | At the top of news feed page or Facebook messenger chats |
| Visibility | Can be found while scrolling through timeline | Works as slideshow/catalog |
| Reaction | Allows likes, comments and share | Allows likes and comments |
| Views | Cannot be determined | Can be determined |
| Editing | Few tools available | Many creative tools available |
| Audience/ Privacy | Accessible to public/friends/custom list | Accessible to public/friends/custom list |
| Creative Tools | Adding background to text, crop, rotation | Filters, stickers, doodle, effects, GIF’s etc. |
| Access | Accessible anytime | Accessible through Archive feature, only to creator |
- Basic Difference
News Feed, which is the core functionality of Facebook, has been a feature since the beginning. The user can post content in the “What’s on your mind?” box, which will appear on the user’s wall or timeline. To find new content on the timeline, you need to keep scrolling.
Your Story or Create a Story was introduced only a few years back. Users can add content such as a slideshow of pictures or videos. This option is like a catalog, that is once you finish watching one person’s story, the next person’s story starts playing automatically.
- Lifetime
News feed houses a person’s post for a lifetime, until the user manually deletes the post.
On the other hand, story is a temporary form of content, which gets automatically deleted after 24 hours from your friends’ view.
- Placement
Stories appear on the top section of the news feed. They can be viewed at two places, which are, at the top of the Facebook News Feed or at the top of the chat list on Facebook Messenger.
News Feed content appears below the stories section on Facebook. It tends to get lost with other newer posts of other users but appear while scrolling through the timeline or by viewing a specific person’s profile.
- Visibility
Since Your Story has a dedicated section at the top of the timeline, it reaches out to more people. The chances of getting viewed by others are higher since they work as a slideshow catalog. Along with this, users are also allowed to post as many stories as they want at no fixed intervals.
Posts on the feed tend to get lost in the sea of content posted on the timeline. You can find a post by scrolling on the timeline.
- Reaction
Posts on the News Feed allows the users to like, comment and share the posts with their friend list as well.
Stories can be liked too, but the reactions are a little different here. If a user comments on a story, the comment goes directly into the Facebook Messenger inbox of the person who posted it.
- Views
Posts on news feed cannot depict the number of views on the post. It can only be evaluated through the likes and comments on a particular post.
Fortunately, stories aren’t anonymous. Once a person has viewed your story, you can check who viewed it by tapping on the eye icon.
- Editing
Making mistakes is very common on social media. But rectifying it has never been easier. Facebook allows the users to edit the caption or the posts which you can publish on the feed.
However, Your Story does not have the same feature. You would have to republish the story with necessary modifications.
- Audience and Privacy
The audience of news feed posts and Stories are independent of each other. The privacy settings on Facebook allows the users to select among:
- Public (visible to all)
- Friends (visible only to fb friends)
- Custom (visible only to few special people)
If you choose to go Public with the stories, it is accessible to your Messenger friends as well. Choosing this setting allows your messenger friends who might not be on your friend list to view your story.
- Creative Tools
In News Feed posts, users are allowed to enhance their posts using limited options like adding background to text, cropping or rotating images.
In Your Story, users can access multiple creative tools to edit their content, that is, by adding music, stickers, effects, doodle, animation or GIF’s.
Things to Consider Before Posting on Facebook News Feed or Your Story
- Conceptualization is most important. Conveying the right message to the target audience is the only key to success on social media.
- Making it creative, fun and inspiring. It is important to make the post or story beneficial for the users. Making the content humorous, educational, factual or interesting always keeps them coming back for more.
- Storytelling is the crux and core of content. You can:
- Tease an upcoming product
- Share behind-the-scenes pictures or videos
- Initiate a tutorial together
- Sharing tips/thoughts of the day
- Engaging audience through questions
- Being Candid. It is more engaging if the posts are candid such as a team just hanging out together at a company celebration or using the “in the moment” feature, just so the staged photography feels less authentic.
- Pleasing Visuals. Using clear imagery, filters, stickers, text or dramatic effect to the post or story is just visually engaging for the audience.
Conclusion
While stories share a personal glimpse of your daily life to your friends, it also allows you to share informal content which you would like your friends to see. On the other hand, posting on the Facebook News Feed is a strong decision and you should put in a thought before posting, because once published it stays visible forever.
