How To Create An Instagram Stories Poll, So You Can Solve All Of Your Indecisive Woes

By now, you've probably seen an intriguing new interactive feature cropping up in your friends' Instagram Stories: polls. Maybe your old college roommate posted a video of her dog snoozing with the question "Is Darby cute?" Or maybe another mom from you kid's preschool class asked whether Johnny should dress up as a firefighter or an airline pilot for Halloween. You've probably even weighed in on a poll or two, and if you haven't solicited feedback from your own Insta family, it's time to learn how to make an Instagram Stories poll pronto. It's super fun and easy — and the best part is that you can use it to quickly get the opinions of your sister you call five times a day as well as long-lost high school friends you haven't heard from in years.

Instagram initially rolled out the new feature last week, and there's no doubt that it has helped many indecisive users decide what to wear to that job interview and what movie to cozy up to on date night.

So, let's jump right in so you can get you very first poll out onto the interwebs ASAP. All you need to do to start is something you've probably done approximately one million times before: take a photo or video for your story. But, wait, don't post just yet!

Instead, tap the smiley face icon at the top right of your screen. You should see the "Poll" sticker right up there near the top, next to the "Hashtag" one. Once you've selected that sticker, you'll have the option to write both your question and the choices. The answers default to simply "yes" and "no," according to TechCrunch, but you can personalize those any way your heart desires. For now, though, two is the maximum number of polling answers you can offer to your Instagram friends, so choose wisely.

Your Story, and your poll, will last for 24 hours before disappearing. But that doesn't mean you have to wait the full 24 hours to get a sneak peak at your poll results. In fact, you can check then out in real-time as soon as you post and wait for the opinions of friends, relatives, and strangers alike to pour in. All you have to do is swipe up as you normally do to see who has viewed your Story, and you'll get an accounting of who voted and how, as well as which of your two options is in the lead, of course. And, for better or for worse, voters can see which answer is racking up the most votes as soon as they cast theirs, too.

As Refinery29 pointed out, Instagram's new poll feature streamlines the process of simply posing a question on your Story and hoping to get a response or two via DM. But because most people don't make a habit of DMing people they don't know well or at least see or talk to on a semi-regular basis, that certainly wasn't the best way to get feedback from as many followers as possible. After all, if you're posting a poll, that probably means you have a Very Important Decision to make. Like, is it really worth it to let your toddler have ice cream for dessert and run the risk of him jumping on the bed all night in the throes of a sugar high instead of going to sleep?

Honestly, it's easy to see how using this feature could come to be as natural as nailing that perfect brunch pic. Who wouldn't want a chorus of opinions in their pocket for all of life's decisions?

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