How to Find Trending "Add Yours" on Instagram

Finding the right Add Yours sticker on Instagram can feel like striking content gold - it's the perfect way to connect with your audience, create a wave of user-generated content, and go viral on Stories. But how do you catch a trend before it's already over? This guide will show you several practical methods for finding trending Add Yours stickers, from simple daily habits to more advanced creator-focused strategies. You'll learn how to spot rising prompts, use them effectively, and keep your content feeling fresh and relevant.

What Are "Add Yours" Stickers (And Why Bother Using Them)?

First, a quick refresher. The "Add Yours" sticker is an interactive feature in Instagram Stories that a user can add to their post. It contains a prompt, like "Show me your pet," and anyone who sees the Story can tap the sticker to add their own photo or video to the chain. Tapping the sticker also shows you everyone who has participated, creating a giant collaborative thread of content.

So, why should this be part of your strategy? The benefits are huge:

• Epic Engagement: Instead of a passive view, you're giving followers a direct call to action. They get to participate, making them feel more connected to your brand or profile.
• A Goldmine of User-Generated Content (UGC): A successful "Add Yours" sticker can generate dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of pieces of content from your community. It's authentic social proof that you can reshare (with credit, of course).
• Viral Reach: When someone adds your "Add Yours" prompt to their Story, their entire follower base sees it. This exposes your account to countless new people who can tap on the sticker and see you as the original creator.
• Community Building: These stickers create a shared experience. Everyone is participating in the same fun activity, strengthening the bond between you and your followers, and among the followers themselves.

The Four Best Ways to Find Trending "Add Yours" Prompts

Staying on top of trends doesn't require mind-reading powers. It just takes a little observation and knowing where to look. Here are four methods, ranging from easy to expert-level, that will help you find prompts that are just starting to take off.

1. Master the Manual Scroll: Your Own Feed is the Frontline

The most straightforward method is often the most effective. The trends that will resonate with your audience are probably already appearing in your own Instagram feed. It's the most organic way to discover what's popular with the people you're already connected to.

How to do it:

• Become an Active Story Watcher: Make it a habit to tap through your followers' and friends' Stories every day. Don't just blindly tap, pay attention to the stickers they're using.
• Look for Repetition: One person using the "cat in a box" sticker is a one-off. Five unrelated people using it in a two-hour window? That's a trend starting to brew. If you see the same prompt more than a couple of times from different accounts, take note.
• Check Who Started It: When you see a sticker, tap on it. At the top of the list of participants, Instagram will show "[Creator's Name] started this thread." If you notice a big creator started it, there's a good chance it will gain momentum quickly.

This method works because it's hyper-relevant to your specific network. A trend that's massive in the beauty community might not appear in your feed if you primarily follow home chefs. By watching your own feed, you're filtering for trends that are already validated by a similar audience.

2. The Creator-Following Strategy: Let Influencers Do the Work for You

Top creators and influencers are often the originators or early adopters of trends. They have their finger on the pulse of what's about to be huge, and following them strategically can give you a window into the next big thing.

How to do it:

1. Identify Niche Leaders: Make a list of 10-20 influential creators and brands both within your specific niche and in broader pop culture. If you're a local coffee shop, follow other famous coffee shops, top-tier baristas, and a few general lifestyle influencers known for great content.
2. Focus on Active Accounts: Follow creators who post Stories frequently. They are more likely to be jumping on trends daily. You're looking for accounts that consistently innovate or participate in community challenges.
3. Turn On Notifications (Sparingly): You don't want to be overwhelmed, but consider turning on Story notifications for a handful of your absolute favorite, trend-setting accounts. This way, you'll be among the first to see when they use or create a new "Add Yours" prompt.

By curating who you follow, you're essentially creating your own trend-spotting dashboard. These creators are doing the heavy lifting by sifting through culture and deciding what's cool - all you have to do is pay attention.

3. The Reels & Trending Audio Connection

This is a more advanced technique that leverages the deep connection between different Instagram formats. Often, a trending audio on Reels will spawn a related "Add Yours" trend in Stories. The sound provides the theme, and the sticker lets people participate without needing to create a whole video.

How to do it:

• Spend Time on the Reels Feed: Every day, scroll through Reels with an analytical eye. Look for sounds marked with a little diagonal arrow, which indicates they're trending. More importantly, look for sounds you hear over and over again.
• Tap the Audio: When you find a trending sound, tap its name at the bottom of the screen. This will take you to the audio page showing all the Reels that use it.
• Investigate the Creators: Now for the key step. Browse through the profiles of the top creators using that audio clip. Go to their profiles and watch their current Stories. It's highly likely that a creator who just made a popular Reel with a specific theme is also running an "Add Yours" prompt on that same topic in their Stories to maximize engagement. For example, a trending audio used for GRWM (Get Ready With Me) videos will almost certainly have a parallel "Show your OOTD" (Outfit of the Day) sticker trend.

4. The Explore Page

Instagram's Explore page is a powerful, personalized algorithm built to show you what it thinks you'll love. You can use this to your advantage to uncover trends bubbling up within your niche that you might not otherwise see from the accounts you already follow.

How to do it:

1. Tune Your Algorithm: The trick is to teach the algorithm what you care about. Actively engage with content on the Explore page that's relevant to your brand or niche. Like photos, watch Reels, and visit profiles related to your industry.
2. Use Niche Keywords in Search: Go to the search bar and type in specific keywords related to your interests (e.g., "pottery," "skincare routine," "NYC apartments").
3. Check Top Accounts and Reels: In the search results, Instagram will suggest top-performing accounts and Reels for that keyword. These are the posts getting the most traction right now. Dive into those profiles and Reels, and just like with the trending audio method, check their current Stories. The algorithm is basically telling you, "People who like [your keyword] are loving this account right now," and that account is a prime candidate for using relevant, trending stickers.

How to Tell a Rising Trend from a Dying One

Just finding a prompt isn't enough. You need to know if you're catching the wave at the right time. Here are a few signs to help you distinguish a fresh trend from one that's already peaked:

• Participant Count: Tap the sticker and see how many people have contributed. If it's a few hundred, it might be just getting started. If it's over 100,000, it's likely at its peak or on its way out. Getting in early is better.
• Creator Tier: Who is posting it? If you only see it among smaller creators and your close friends, it's likely new. If massive celebrity accounts are joining in, the trend is either at its absolute peak or already on the decline.
• Timestamp: Look at when people started adding to the thread. If the first few entries were posted within the last few hours, it's fresh. If a trend started three days ago, you might be too late to get the most out of its momentum.

The goal is to find the sweet spot: after a trend has been validated by a few early adopters but before it's completely oversaturated. Act quickly when you spot a good one!

Final Thoughts

Finding trending "Add Yours" stickers is about curiosity and observation. By actively watching your feed, following key creators, and understanding the link between different content formats, you can keep your Stories engaging and capitalize on the network effects that make these trends so powerful.

Jumping on timely trends like these requires speed and a solid plan for your content. To keep our strategy organized when inspiration from a trending Story sparks an idea for a Reel or TikTok, we use Postbase. It's built for the way social media actually works today, with a visual calendar that lets us plan and schedule our content across all platforms without getting stuck trying to use older, clunky tools.