Instagram began testing the “only for close friends” feature – Kommersant

The social network Instagram (owned by Meta, which is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation and is banned) is testing a new feature that will allow posts to be shared only with a certain group of people close to the user. About it informs TechCrunch with reference to messages from users and the administration of the social network.

When posting content, Instagram will ask users whether they want to share the post with everyone or just a group of “close friends.” This function does not affect privacy settings, nor does it affect how the publication will be displayed when transferred to other social networks. If Instagram implements the new feature everywhere, it will eliminate the need for users to create special “friends only” accounts.

In 2018, the Instagram network allowed sharing Stories only with friends, and in 2019 tried create group chats with close friends through the Threads app (this is not the same social network that Meta launched in 2023), but the messenger was not successful, and Threads closed in 2021. At the end of 2022, Instagram launched the Notes feature, which allows you to share text notes, music or location with friends, as well as translate messages into other languages.

Evgeny Fedunenko