For better or worse, Facebook-to-Instagram cross-posting is coming

After adding cross-posting of Instagram Stories to Facebook three and a half years ago, the social networking behemoth is apparently testing a new option that would allow you to cross-post your existing Facebook Story as an Instagram Story with a click.

The feature is being tested in the beta code for Facebook’s Android app, which was discovered and shared online by renowned reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong.

TechCrunch has more on how it works:

When you’ve shot a Facebook Story and are about to post it, you can tap Privacy to review who you’re sharing with. In addition to the Public, Friends, Custom and Hide From options, Facebook is testing a Share To Instagram toggle that appears to turn on continuous cross-posting of that post and future ones.

Author Josh Constine wishes that this change means that the two apps will now sync up the Already Viewed status of cross-posted Stories “so we don’t have to watch re-runs any more”.

With any luck, Facebook and Instagram will eventually sync up data about which Stories you’ve watched on either app to avoid showing you exact copies of ones you’ve already seen. I made my case for this to Instagram’s leadership at a recent press dinner, noting how reruns waste hundreds of millions of people’s time and lead them to close Stories or the app altogether. I asked Facebook about that specifically; they declined to comment.

A Facebook spokesperson confirmed the test in an email statement to TechCrunch.

Stories cross-posting is being tested with some Facebook for Android users

“A Facebook spokesperson tells me that the company is now formally testing the cross-posting feature to make it easier to share moments with the people who matter to you, as people might have different audiences and followers on Facebook versus Instagram,” reads the article.

To be clear, this is not an internal test because Facebook is testing the new cross-posting features with users in the wild, meaning it’s probably going live for everyone sooner than later.

Thoughts on Stories cross-posting?