As the TikTok ban looms, Instagram Reels is introducing a new way to interact with friends
If you’ve recently double-tapped an Instagram Reel, your friends may be able to see it thanks to a new Instagram update. Instagram Reels introduces a new Friends tab that shows you all the videos your friends have liked and interacted with, the company announced Friday. The new feature is rolling out to US users starting today.
This is different from the Friends tab on Reels, which shows all videos created and posted by the accounts you follow. This is more reminiscent of the TikTok algorithm that incorporates videos that your friends have DMed you into your For You page.
You can see this separate Reels feed by tapping a new pill-shaped widget in the top right corner – with some of your friends’ profile pictures – and the new dedicated feed will open. You can also reply to these videos or start direct messages with friends from there. Don’t worry if you don’t see the option yet – new features may take some time to roll out.
Read more: Instagram’s New Teen Accounts: What Parents and Kids Need to Know
The update follows a turbulent start to the year for meta. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would do so Ending its third-party fact-checking program across all platforms and overhauling content moderation. Proposed changes to the content moderation policy include easing restrictions on how users can talk about gender identity and immigration, which Zuckerberg called a return to the company’s “roots around free expression.”
Fact-checking groups And LGBTQ+ advocates have worried about what this means for information quality and security on the platforms.
The new feature is also coming on the same day as that The US Supreme Court upheld the law that would effectively ban TikTok if it doesn’t sell its U.S. business to a new buyer approved by U.S. officials by Jan. 19. President Joe Biden has stated He will not enforce the ban in the final hours of his presidency, and President-elect Donald Trump, who will be sworn in on Monday, has said he is interested in a political solution.
But the decision raises great uncertainty about the future of video-based social media for TikTok’s more than 170 million active U.S. users, some of whom may want to move to Instagram Reels or others alternative locations.
