- Instagram is testing a “Close Friends” feature for the feed, the company confirmed.
- Like “Close Friends” on Instagram stories, users can share posts with a smaller audience.
- The feature is only testing in select countries — but it could be a game-changer for the app.
Sick of toggling between those several Instagram accounts you made so that you can share content more freely — and privately — with your closest friends and family?
Me too.
And Instagram also appears to be catching on. The Meta-owned platform is starting to test a feature that will allow users to post content in their feed to a “Close Friends” audience — similar to the Close Friends feature the app rolled out for stories.
“We’re testing the ability for people in select countries to share feed posts with their Close Friends,” a Meta spokesperson told Insider in an email. “We’re always exploring new ways for our community to express themselves and connect on Instagram.”
The feature was first rumored to be in the works earlier this year after Italian mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi reverse-engineered Instagram code revealing it. In September, a screenshot of the feature appearing in the UK made its rounds on social media after influencer marketing expert and UCLA Extension lecturer Lia Haberman posted about the new tool.
A more private experience on Instagram may be the key for the app to get more users posting to the app.
In July, head of Instagram Adam Mosseri shared that users weren’t posting so much to the feed, especially teens.
“If you look at how teens spend their time on Instagram, they spend more time in DMs than they do in stories, and they spend more time in stories than they do in feed,” Mosseri said on an episode of the “20VC” podcast.
The more users steer away from sharing content in the Instagram feed, the more likely they will turn to the app’s competitors to share those more intimate moments and interact with friends.
Instagram is not alone in trying to capitalize on semi-private sharing and DMs. Even TikTok appears to be tapping into a more private form of social networking, according to a recent report by Axios that pointed to new job listings for social and messaging features.
Instagram’s push to expand “Close Friends” could signal a bigger change in how the company is thinking about what users want.
Meta is already eyeing a plan to charge European users for an ad-free experience across its apps — including Instagram, The New York Times reported earlier this month. With this potential subscription plan, as well as Meta Verified, it’s not difficult to imagine an Instagram experience where you pay to have an ad-free, more private version of Instagram.
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