Posting one of the photos from your Instagram profile on his story is a big step for him.
He doesn’t do this for just anyone.
He is sharing you with his followers, sending a subliminal message to them and to you that he is taking you seriously.
So far, his time with you has been fun, memorable, intriguing and impactful.
He likes how it has been.
Although you aren’t exclusively dating each other, he is thinking about what that looks like.
In posting one of the photos from your Instagram profile on his story, he is curious about how his followers react.
He wants to see whether you get a stamp of approval from them.
This is in how much they like your photo and leave positive comments to it.
Guys are visual in nature.
Even though he is attracted to you, he wants to get a read on what his audience thinks of your physical looks.
Most of his audience are guys.
Guys like beautiful women.
He is hoping that his followers give your photo a bunch of positive responses.
This instantly gives him an idea on what people at large think of your physical looks.
Yes, he wants to know that if he were to make you his girlfriend, you would look good on his arm.
The woman a guy chooses to date is a positive addition to his status.
Being a guy, he knows that he is judged by how good his girlfriend looks on his arm, making it imperative that she is good-looking.
Should he receive a bunch of positive feedback from his social media followers about how pretty you are, he gets an extra surge of energy.
It draws him closer to deciding whether you are someone that he wants to exclusively date.
In posting one of the photos from your Instagram profile on his story, he is giving you nonverbal encouragement to post a photo of his to your own Instagram story.
Should you do so, it lets him know that you are feeling as good about him as he is feeling about you.
No guy wants to fall for a girl, only to learn that she doesn’t feel likewise.
Although he has a good idea that you like him, he doesn’t know how deep it goes.
He won’t directly tell you that he wants you to post a photo of his on your Instagram story.
This sounds too needy and desperate to him.
Instead, he is banking on you feeling compelled to do the same in posting a photo of him on your Instagram story.
In doing this, you make him feel good, putting a smile on his face.
It lets him know that you are feeling for him like he is feeling for you.
Furthermore, as you give him accounts of how positively your followers are responding to his photo, it’s encouraging, as it informs him that your followers are accepting of him.
This is when he strongly considers whether it is time to ask you to date him exclusively.