Verified story

What is a verified story?

A verified story is an Instagram story that Parmo has checked, through Instagram itself, and found still online at the end of the window the organizer asked for. The window is 24 hours by default, the full life of a story. If the story is still there at the last check, it is verified; if it came down before, it is not.

The term exists because promoter deals have always had a proof problem. A screenshot shows that a story existed for a moment, not that it stayed up, and it is easy to post, screenshot and delete. Checking with Instagram directly takes that question off the table, for the organizer and for the honest promoter alike.

How verification works

From the moment a story goes up:

• Parmo remembers the story's Instagram id when it is posted, whether Parmo published it or the promoter picked a story they had posted themselves.
• It checks that the story is still live within about a quarter of an hour, then at longer intervals as the window goes on.
• When the window closes it asks Instagram about exactly that story one last time. Still there: verified.
• Gone before the end: deleted early. No reliable answer, for example because the Instagram connection expired mid-window: no recent evidence. Never accepted by Instagram: publish failed.
• Once every story in the posting brief is verified, the reward is released.

Example: two stories, one reward

Say a brief asks for two stories, one on Thursday and one on Saturday. The Thursday story goes up at 20:00 and is still there at 20:00 on Friday: verified. The Saturday story goes up at 18:00, but the promoter deletes it at midnight to tidy their profile: deleted early. The brief is not complete, so the reward is not released, even though one of the two stories did its job.

Tips for promoters

• Leave the story up for the whole window, even if it no longer fits your profile. Archive it afterwards if you like.
• Keep your Instagram connected until the window closes. An expired connection can leave a story unconfirmed.
• Post through Parmo, or pick the story in Parmo if you posted it yourself, so Parmo knows which story to check.
• If Instagram itself removed a story, tell Parmo with the date and the event.

Verification on Parmo

The check through Instagram is the only proof Parmo accepts. There is no screenshot upload instead, because a picture cannot be checked against Instagram. For each verified story the organizer sees when it went up, when it was checked, and its Insights: story views, reach, replies, shares, profile visits, follows and link taps. No follower lists, no private data. A story that fails also lowers the promoter's score. See How Parmo verifies a story.

Common questions

How long does a story have to stay up?

For the window the organizer set, 24 hours by default, which is the full life of an Instagram story. The event page says if it differs.

Do screenshots count as proof?

No. Parmo checks the story through Instagram itself; a screenshot only shows that the story existed for a moment.

What happens if I delete a story early?

It is marked as deleted early, the reward for that brief is not released, and your score goes down.