Instagram now lets you limit posts, reels to close friends

SAN FRANCISCO — Meta-owned Instagram is expanding its Close Friends feature beyond Stories and Notes to feed posts and Reels.

Now, users will be able to share Reels and feed posts with a smaller, more trusted group instead of everyone who follows them, according to Engadget.

The company said that folks use Close Friends “as a pressure-free space to connect with the people that matter most.”

The developers hope that by expanding the Close Friends option to Reels and feed posts, users will have “more ways to be your most authentic self on Instagram while having more choices over who sees your content”.

Sharing a post or Reel exclusively with Close Friends on Instagram is a simple process.

When creating a post or Reel, click on the Audience button and select Close Friends. Then, tap Share. The post or Reel will have a green star label, indicating that it is only visible to people on your Close Friends list.

To emphasize the expansion of this feature, you may notice that the plus button on the app has been replaced with a green star icon, the report explained.

Meanwhile, Instagram has announced that soon users will be able to turn off read receipts in their direct messages (DMs).

The company is testing a new feature that will give users a choice about using read receipts in DMs. Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri both announced on their Broadcast channels that the change is currently in testing.

Also read: Insta’s new feature lets you update profile pic with short video in Notes