Instagram tests "private sharing" option

The feature is primarily intended to accommodate the growing trend of "private sharing," according to the Facebook subsidiary's management. But the aim is also to strengthen group communication on the social network.

Trend toward direct messages

"Instragram users today share much more content via direct messages than via posts or stories in the news feeds," Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said via Twitter at the end of June. This realization, he said, prompted him and his team to develop new features to adapt to this trend and better address users' changing needs. Some ideas, such as options for collaborative posting or message collections in chats, have already been implemented.

With the new ability to selectively choose whether users want to share content with the entire community or only with their closest friend contacts, "private sharing" has finally arrived on Instagram. "Because it's now possible to share posts only with close friends, we also hope that users will be more encouraged to share more often because they can be sure that, yes, only a few trusted people can see their updates," Mosseri emphasizes.

Influencer discovers feature

One of the first to discover the new feature on Instagram was influencer and marketing expert Lia Haberman. In an X-post, she published a screenshot of the option, which can be accessed via a new selection button for the target audience when creating new messages. There you can then specify with just one click whether these should be visible to everyone or only to "close friends". This setting then only affects the posting in question and can vary from message to message. (pte/swi)

Coming to Instagram 🔥 Close Friends feed post. It's been spotted by someone posting in the UK

This would be one way to get people off Stories and out of DMs - create a Close Friends feed experience

h/t @jordLS pic.twitter.com/BBp0uDpJnF

- Lia Haberman (@liahaberman) September 4, 2023