Introducing Social Media Mode: A Private Instagram for Your Event

Everyone at your event already knows how to use Instagram. They know what a story is, they double-tap things they love, they check who liked their post five minutes later. Social Media Mode takes that muscle memory and gives it a new home: a private feed that belongs entirely to your event.

Guests open one link and land in a familiar place — a stories rail at the top, a scrolling feed of posts below, a profile with their name and picture. Except every face in it is someone at your party, and everything posted stays with you, the organizer, instead of an algorithm.

How it works for guests

The first time a guest opens your social feed link, they're invited to create a lightweight profile: a display name and an optional profile photo. No account, no password, no app download — it lives in their browser and takes ten seconds. (They can also skip it and just browse.)

From there it behaves the way they expect a social app to behave:

• Posts are long-standing: a photo or a short video clip with a caption, sitting in the feed for everyone to scroll back to.
• Stories disappear. Guests post them into the stories rail at the top, grouped by person with the classic gradient ring, and after a window you control they quietly expire from view.
• Likes and comments work everywhere — double-tap a post, react from a story, drop a comment. Tapping the like count shows exactly who reacted, with their profile pictures. The same emoji reactions guests use in your public album carry over here.
• Sharing a post produces a link straight to that post — whoever opens it sees it first, then keeps scrolling into the feed.

New posts appear at the top of everyone's feed in real time, and a pull-to-refresh brings in anything they missed. Guests can also manage their own contributions: a "My posts" section under their profile lists everything they've shared, with the option to remove it (you can turn guest deletion off if you prefer).

How it works for you

Social Media Mode gets its own dedicated link, separate from your public album and stories links — enable it from the Photos page in your dashboard and share it however you like. It opens once your event starts, so the feed begins exactly when the party does.

You stay in control of the room:

• Feed content: show every photo from the event, or only what guests post directly in the social feed.
• Story duration: anywhere from 15 minutes to 24 hours.
• Pinned post: publish your own post — a welcome photo or a text announcement like "Dinner at 9, dance floor at 11" — and it stays pinned to the top of every guest's feed until you unpin it.
• Moderation: if your event uses photo approval or AI moderation, social posts and stories go through exactly the same review before anyone sees them.

Stories live in their own private album behind the scenes, so they never leak into your public gallery or the live carousel — ephemeral means ephemeral, but you still keep every file in your dashboard.

Posts, stories, and clips

Photos work everywhere, on every plan. Short video clips — up to 30 seconds — can be posted to both the feed and stories on plans that include video uploads, and they follow your plan's video settings. Longer guest videos still belong to Films, which collects up to five minutes per video through the upload page.

Where it shines

Weddings. The stories rail during the reception is exactly what it sounds like: your people, documenting your day, for an audience of exactly your people. Pair it with a wedding photo sharing app setup and the couple gets both the polished album and the unfiltered feed. If you're just getting started, our guide to collecting wedding photos from guests covers the basics.

Parties and birthdays. The feed becomes the afterparty. Guests keep posting, liking, and commenting on the way home, and the organizer wakes up to a timeline of the whole night.

Conferences and corporate events. A private feed beats a public hashtag: attendees post without broadcasting to their followers, the organizer pins the schedule, and nothing ends up owned by a platform.

The details

• Access: one dedicated link, separate from your album link — revocable and regenerable anytime
• Guests need: a browser. No app, no account
• Profiles: display name + optional photo, per device
• Posts: photos and video clips up to 30 seconds (clips follow your plan's video settings)
• Stories: disappear after 15 minutes to 24 hours — your choice
• Host tools: pinned post, feed scope, guest deletion toggle, full moderation
• Available: on Fotify events today — see pricing for plan details

Your event deserves its own social network. Now it has one.