What "Public" MeansStorylines gives you the option to set a storyline to one of two visibility settings:
Followers Only (default): only approved followers you invite can view the storyline. If you have not invited anyone, the storyline is effectively private — no one else can see it.
Public: the storyline is accessible to any person with a link, and may be discoverable by search engines, social media preview tools, web crawlers, and other automated systems.
Making a storyline Public is always a deliberate, opt-in action. The default visibility of every new storyline is Followers Only, meaning it is visible only to followers you have approved. Until you invite followers, no one else can see it.
What Happens When You Make a Storyline PublicWhen you set a storyline to Public, you should be aware that:
- Any person anywhere in the world — including people you do not know — may be able to view, screenshot, download, share, or embed the content of that storyline.
- Search engines, social media platforms, and other third-party services may index, cache, or display your public content in ways outside our control.
- We cannot guarantee that content once made public can be fully removed from all third-party caches or indexes, even after you change the storyline back to Followers Only or delete it.
- Metadata embedded in your photos and videos, including location data (GPS coordinates), timestamps, and device information, may be visible to viewers of your public storyline. You are responsible for reviewing and removing sensitive metadata before publishing.
Your Responsibility for Content in Public StorylinesBy making a storyline public, you represent and warrant that:
- You have the legal right to publish all photos, videos, voice memos, voiceover recordings, and other content included in that storyline.
- You have obtained any necessary consents from individuals who appear in or are identifiable from the content.
- The content does not infringe any third-party intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or any applicable law.
You are solely responsible for all content you choose to make publicly accessible through the Platform. Storylines is not liable for any consequences arising from your decision to make a storyline public, including any exposure, misuse, or redistribution of that content by third parties.
Children's Photos and Videos in Public StorylinesImportant: Storylines does not permit making "Family" or "Child" category storylines public. However, other storyline types (such as Travel storylines) may contain photos, videos, or voice recordings in which a minor appears or can be heard. If you include such content in any storyline and make that storyline public, the following applies:
- You, as the account holder, are solely and exclusively responsible for any decision to make publicly accessible any content that depicts, identifies, or could reasonably be used to identify a minor.
- You represent and warrant that you are the parent or legal guardian of any minor who appears in public content, or that you have obtained explicit consent from that minor's parent or legal guardian prior to publishing.
- You acknowledge that publicly accessible photos, videos, and voice recordings depicting or identifying a minor may be viewed, saved, or redistributed by unknown third parties, and that Storylines cannot control or prevent such activity once content is made public.
- You agree to immediately change the visibility of any storyline to Followers Only or delete it if you become aware that it contains content depicting a minor that you no longer have authorization to publish, or if you have any concern about the safety or privacy of that minor.
Parental responsibility: We strongly encourage all users to carefully consider whether any content depicting minors should ever be made publicly accessible on the internet. A photo that seems harmless in isolation may, in combination with other public content, reveal a child's identity, location patterns, or other sensitive details. Please exercise caution.
Storylines reserves the right to remove any public content that we determine, in our sole discretion, to depict minors in a manner that raises safety or privacy concerns, with or without prior notice.
Location Metadata in Public ContentPhotos and videos often contain embedded GPS coordinates and other location metadata (EXIF data). If this metadata is present in files you upload, it may be visible to viewers of your public storyline. Storylines does not automatically strip location metadata from publicly shared content. You are responsible for removing sensitive location information before publishing. Please consult your device's camera settings or a photo editing application to review and remove EXIF data if desired.
Changing Visibility or Deleting Public ContentYou may change a storyline from Public to Followers Only, or delete it entirely, at any time from within the App. Changes take effect promptly on our Platform; however, content that has already been indexed, cached, or shared by third parties may remain accessible through those third-party systems. We are not responsible for third-party caches or copies of content that was previously public.
Follower RelationshipsThe "Followers Only" visibility setting limits your storyline to approved followers. When you use this feature, we collect and store follower lists, follow requests, and related relationship data as part of your account. You may remove followers or change your storyline's visibility at any time. Follower relationship data is deleted when you close your account, in accordance with our retention policy.