Facebook is testing the ability to send Instagram Stories directly to Facebook Stories as part of the company's efforts to unify its disparate platforms. The new feature has raised privacy concerns.

The lines between Facebook’s services are blurring. Facebook and Instagram chat are merging; Oculus users will now have to log in with their Facebook accounts to play in VR. The moves come as Facebook and other tech giants are increasingly under fire for alleged privacy violations and other issues. With such disparate services converging, some less experienced users may be confused.

"It's going to be difficult for users to know and control what the privacy settings are," Scott J. Shackelford, a law professor at Indiana University Bloomington who studies internet governance, said in a telephone interview. "You have to know what the default sharing settings are, and unless you do a lot of research, you're not going to know the answer to that. It's going to be confusing for a lot of users."

According to a report, Instagram followers can now connect their accounts to Facebook by enabling a setting. Followers can view an Instagram story on Facebook, but Facebook users who are not followers on Instagram will not see that story. Facebook stories will have blue circles on their profile photo, while Instagram will have pink circles.