Instagram introduce three new features – Reposts, Instagram Map, and a “Friends” tab
Instagram has launched three new Snapchat and TikTok-like features that encourages connecting and interacting with friends.
Reposts
A new repost icon lets you share reels and feed posts to your friends’ and followers’ feeds, as well as to a separate tab on your profile.
To repost, simply tap the new repost icon on feed posts and reels. You can also add a note by tapping the bubble.
As reposts are credited to the original poster, rather than the reposter, the idea is encourage reposts over downloading and reuploading as many curators currently do, therefore increasing the reach for the creator.
Users on Instagram have long had the ability to share posts and reels from other creators to their stories, however reposts brings this feature to the main feed, reels and profiles. According to Adam Mosseri, this has been a highly requested feature.
Instagram Map
Share your location with friends you pick and see where your friends and creators are on the new Instagram Map.
You can find the map from the top of the DM inbox. Instagram makes it clear that this is an opt-in experience. When turned on, Instagram will share your last active location, updated each time you open the app. When setting up, you choose who to share your location with between friends (followers you follow back), close friends, only selected friends, or no one. You can choose not to share your location in a specific place, with specific people or turn it off entirely at anytime.
Parents with supervision set up for their teens have control over location sharing. Parents will be notified when their child start sharing their location, will be able to see who they are sharing with and turn the feature off.
Even if you choose to not share your location, you can still use the Instagram Map. The map shows the locations of those who choose to share with you and notes from mutual follows, as well as tagged locations from reels, posts and stories from everyone you follow for 24 hours after they’re posted. With the addition of tagged locations, Instagram hopes the map will become a way to discover thing and places around you.
The map is rolling out in the US this week, with more global availability soon. Snapchat launched Snap Map back in 2017, as a way of seeing where your friends and popular hotspots are.
“Friends” tab in reels
The new “Friends” tab is a way to see what reels your friends have interacted with.
You can find the new “Friends” tab at the top of the reels page. It shows liked, created, reposted and commented on public reels and posts from your friends, as well as recommendations from Blends you’ve started. You can return to the standard reels view by switching back to the “Reels” tab at the top.
The “Friends” tab started in the US earlier this year, but is now launching globally. When launched, there were some concerns around privacy, with some feeling uncomfortable about broadcasting their activity. Rolling out with the global launch are controls, giving users the ability to hide their own likes and comments on reels, as well as the ability to mute activity bubbles from specific people you follow.
The “Friends” tab is another feature that is pulled from TikTok. It’s similar to the old “activity” tab that used to show what posts your friends were interacting with.
