Per-slide engagement for carousel posts

Carousels flatten engagement

Photo dumps are the dominant format on Instagram. Users are posting 5, 8, 10 slides at once — mixing selfies, landscapes, food, and random moments into a single carousel. But the engagement model hasn't evolved to match. You get one like button, one comment thread, and one set of insights for the entire post — regardless of how many slides it contains.

This creates a gap on every side of the experience. Users can't express which specific photo caught their eye. Creators can't tell if slide 3 carried the entire post while slides 7 through 10 went unnoticed. And Instagram itself is leaving engagement on the table — every swipe through a carousel is a missed opportunity for interaction.

Four connected features, one core idea

Rather than a single feature, this concept introduces a suite of interconnected capabilities — all laddering up to one principle: every slide in a carousel deserves its own engagement surface.

Built on existing gestures

The key design constraint was to avoid introducing new behaviors. Instagram users already know how to double-tap to like, long-press for options, and swipe up on Stories. This concept repurposes those exact gestures for carousel slides — so the feature feels native from day one.

The reaction tray mirrors the quick-reaction bar from Instagram DMs. Slide-tagged comments use a subtle badge indicator rather than a separate comment section. The goal is additive engagement without disrupting the scroll-through experience that makes carousels feel casual.

Try it yourself

This prototype uses my own Tokyo photo dump to demonstrate the feature. Swipe through the carousel, double-tap any slide to heart it, or long-press to open the reaction tray. Tap "View all 6 comments" to see the slide-tagged comment experience with filter pills.

Slide-level insights for creators

Today, Instagram Insights shows reach, impressions, and interactions at the post level. This concept extends that with a per-slide breakdown — giving creators the data they need to understand which photos actually drive engagement and tailor their content strategy accordingly.

Why this matters for Instagram

Per-slide engagement isn't just a UX improvement — it has real implications for Instagram's core metrics and competitive position.

Potential issues and risks

Like any feature that deepens engagement mechanics, there are trade-offs and risks to navigate.

• Engagement fatigue — Adding more interaction points could overwhelm users who enjoy the simplicity of the current carousel experience. The feature would need careful progressive disclosure — reactions visible but not intrusive, the tray only appearing on intentional long-press.
• Social comparison amplified — Per-slide reaction counts could intensify the comparison dynamic Instagram already struggles with. Creators might obsess over which slides "performed," and users might feel pressure to react to every slide. A potential mitigation: make per-slide counts visible only to the creator, not publicly.
• Comment thread complexity — Slide-tagged comments add a filtering layer to an already dense comment section. If the UX isn't tight, it could feel cluttered. The filter-by-slide model needs to be opt-in and unobtrusive — the default view should still show all comments in order.
• Metric inflation — Brands and advertisers might question whether per-slide reactions are "real" engagement or just easier clicks. Instagram would need to clearly define how slide-level metrics roll up into post-level and account-level analytics.
• Backward compatibility — Rolling this out retroactively to existing carousels could create weird gaps (old posts with no per-slide data). It might need to launch as forward-only, with insights only available for new posts.