“Due to a technical issue, this story is no longer available. While we have fixed the issue, your story cannot be restored,” the message said.

Meta, the owner of Instagram, declined to provide the number of users affected, but said only those whose stories were lost would receive the notification.

“We have identified and fixed a bug that caused some users’ highlights and archives to be deleted,” a Meta spokesperson said. “Unfortunately, we are unable to restore the lost stories and are notifying affected users via the app.”

Instagram Stories are a more casual and informal way to post information than regular posts. Users can upload photos, videos , or text, and these content disappears after 24 hours. More special content can be shared with a close friend list or stored permanently on a personal profile as a highlight.

Stories differ from regular photos by often being personalized with music, gifs, text, filters, and interactive features like polls.

Some people also use Stories archives as a way to store photos and videos.

The above error from Instagram once again reminds us that relying on a single backup method for media can be an unwise decision.

For important memories, users should make sure to back up photos, videos, and other documents outside of the app, no matter how trustworthy the company is.