What I Mean When I Say “Forward” on Instagram Story

Alright, let me break this down for you—because I remember being confused by this too.
You’re watching stories on Instagram, just tapping away, and then someone says:

“Ugh, everyone’s forwarding through my story.”
Or “My forwards were super high yesterday.”

And I’m sitting there like, What does that even mean?

So I did the digging—and now I’m gonna explain it to you, like I wish someone explained it to me. No fancy tech talk. Just straight-up, easy words.

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read)

• Forward = someone tapped ahead to your next story.
• It doesn’t mean they hate you—it just means they skipped.
• Use it as a tool to learn what your audience likes.

First Off: What’s a Story?

You probably already know this, but just in case:

• An Instagram Story is a picture or video you post that disappears after 24 hours.
• You can post a bunch of them in a row—like little pieces of your day.
• People can tap through them like a slideshow.

Quick Example:

Let’s say I post 3 stories:

1. A picture of my shoes 👟
2. A funny video of my cat 🐱
3. A selfie with a pizza 🍕

Someone watching can tap to go forward (to the next one), or go back if they want to rewatch something.

So What Does “Forward” Actually Mean?

When someone is watching my story and taps the screen to go to the next one, that’s called a Forward.

Basically, it means they didn’t watch the whole story—they just skipped ahead.

Not because they hate me (hopefully), but maybe they were just in a rush, or my story didn’t grab their attention.

What “Forward” Looks Like in My Instagram Insights

If I post a story, I can swipe up to see how people interacted with it. Here’s what it might show me:

📸 Story	👀 Views	🔁 Back	⏩ Forward	🧍‍♂️ Next Story	❌ Exits
Shoes	120	4	18	12	3
Cat vid	110	2	25	10	5

So in this example:

• 18 people forwarded past my shoes. Okay, maybe not everyone loves sneakers.
• 25 skipped my cat video. Which is wild, honestly.

But that’s the thing—it tells me what people watched, skipped, or dipped out on completely.

Why Do People Forward My Stories?

Honestly? It could be anything. Here’s what I’ve figured out:

Good Reasons (So I Don’t Freak Out):

• They’re just tapping fast (some people scroll like they’re speedrunning).
• They already saw it on another app.
• They’re watching with sound off and didn’t get it.
• They weren’t in the mood, or just distracted.

Not-So-Great Reasons (Stuff I Can Improve):

• My photo or video wasn’t clear.
• Text was too small or hard to read.
• I posted too many stories and they got bored.
• It just didn’t catch their interest.

Is “Forward” a Bad Thing?

Nope. Not always.

Just like skipping a song doesn’t mean it’s trash—maybe they just weren’t feeling it right then.

BUT… if I see tons of forwards on every single story I post? Yeah, that’s probably a sign I should switch things up.

What I Do to Keep People From Skipping My Stories

Here’s what’s worked for me (and a lot of other creators too):

Make Stories That Pop

• Use bright, eye-catching pictures.
• Add music, stickers, or effects to keep it fun.

Keep Text Easy to Read

• I always go with bold fonts and high contrast.
• Tiny white text on a white background? Nah. Don’t do that.

Don’t Go Overboard

• I try to keep it short—3 to 5 stories max per day.
• If I post 20+ in a row, I know people are gonna skip.

Add Captions for Videos

• A lot of people watch stories with the sound off.
• So I always add text explaining what’s going on.

Here’s How People Tap Around on Instagram Stories

To help you picture it, I made this:

[⬅ Back]     [▶ Watch]     [⏩ Forward]     [⏭ Next Story]     [❌ Exit]

Button	What It Does
⬅ Back	Goes to the story before this one
▶ Watch	Just keeps watching the current story
⏩ Forward	Skips to the next story I posted
⏭ Next Story	Goes to a different person’s story
❌ Exit	Leaves Instagram stories altogether

What I Keep In Mind

• “Forward” means someone tapped ahead to my next story.
• It’s not always personal—sometimes people just scroll fast.
• But I use it to learn what people like or don’t like.

So if my dog video gets way fewer forwards than my lunch selfie? Guess what—I’m posting more dog videos 🐶✨

Want to See Your Own Story Insights?

Here’s how I do it (you’ll need a Creator or Business account):

1. Post a story.
2. Wait for a bit (let people view it).
3. Open the story again.
4. Swipe up on it.
5. Boom—you’ll see your stats: Views, Forwards, Backs, Next Story, Exits.

Super helpful if you want to grow your account or just see what hits.

Final Thoughts from Me

Instagram’s “Forward” button is just part of how people scroll.
It’s not good or bad—it’s feedback.
And if you use it right, you can start making stories that people actually watch all the way through.

So yeah, now you know what it means when someone says:

“They forwarded through my story.”

They just tapped to the next part. That’s it.
It’s not the end of the world. But it’s also a good way to figure out what works better next time.

Hope that helped.

—Sahadat.