Instagram Rolls Out 'Close Friends' Option for Reels, Feed Posts

Instagram has finally expanded the Close Friends feature to feed posts and reels, giving users more sense of privacy within their closest peers.

How to Share Posts, Reels Within Close Friends

Upon uploading your new post or reel, you must first select the Audience option at the final step. The tab will give you the option to customize your audience either to Everyone or to your Close Friends list only.

Once you are done, you can proceed to share your post the way you usually do. The post or the reel will appear to your close friends with a green star icon, similar to the green circle on Stories, that indicates it is only meant for a selected group of people.

This is a big improvement to Instagram's privacy feature as previously the app only allowed the users to set their account to private if they wanted to limit the audience for their posts. On the other hand, the platform first introduced the close friends feature in 2018 to Stories as a way to encourage users to share exclusive content with their selected people.

In the announcement, Instagram acknowledged that the function has been used as a "pressure-free space" for people who want to share moments with people that matter the most. "We hope this opens up more ways to be your most authentic self on Instagram while having more choices over who sees your content," the company added.

Instagram's Expanded Close Friends Feature Promotes Authenticity

While most people enjoy the feeling of having many followers, sometimes it can be a burden to share all the things with a bunch of people who do not even know you personally. For many, Instagram is a platform wherein they can post their curated photos and well-maintained aesthetic feed.

Since the introduction of the Close Friends feature in 2018, many people have utilized it as a way to communicate and share stories with people who connect with them on a personal level. Being included in someone's close friend's list can signify a strong bond between two people.

Meanwhile, some creators have managed to utilize the feature as a means to share specific updates and announcements without the need for individual messaging. However, this could have changed now with the introduction of Broadcast Channels on Instagram.