Instagram will finally let people “repost” their friends pictures.
It finally brings a feature that has already been present on most other social media platforms, as well as some parts of Instagram.
But the change is still limited in important ways. A picture that is reposted will not appear on your profile, for instance, but rather in their own dedicated tab on that profile.
It will mean however that users can share public reels or posts and they may appear on their friends’ feeds.
Instagram will also borrow another feature already present on other platforms, including TikTok, from which it took the concept of reels. Instagram users will now be able to open Reels and see a feed with just posts from their friends – something that has long been offered on that original platform.
That friends tab will also show posts that they have commented on or liked, for instance. Users can switch off that feature if they do not want their own likes to show up in that feed, and can also mute likes or comments from specific people.
Instagram launched Reels in 2020, amid the increasing popularity of TikTok, one of a range of features lifted from other well-used social media platforms. It has become popular since, especially in the wake of bans on TikTok in large parts of the world.
The changes are part of an attempt to make Instagram’s feed include more content that people actually care about, it claimed. The company has seen controversy over its news feed in recent years, and has responded in a variety of ways – such as downplaying political content in favour of posts from friends.
The change is available now in the US and is rolling out globally, Instagram said.
