Instagram is taking its Snapchat love to a new level with feature additions to the platform that looks to keep its users entertained. The platform is also making changes to one of its existing features
that courted controversy and concerns around user privacy.
Reels have become a core part of Instagram’s identity, even though the short video form was copied from TikTok. And now the company is doing it again, bringing new features that already exist on other competition platforms.
Instagram Repost Update And More
Instagram is letting you repost Reels from all users, even those you don’t follow or know on the platform. This works similar to TikTok, where all the reposted short videos will be visible in a dedicated feed and even comes into the feed of people you follow. Reposting has worked differently on Instagram for years and these slight changes to the interface and its function gives it a new purpose. Instagram users could only share the Reel from the Stories earlier but now it can go as it is.
In addition to this, Instagram is giving more controls to how the location-sharing feature works between friends on the app. The live map tells you the location of friends who have given access to track them and tell others about their whereabouts.
Snapchat users know it as Snap Map and now Instagram is bringing it for its users. The good thing is that you will need to manually opt-in to use the feature and is disabled by default for the privacy of the users.
Instagram has faced criticism for its policies and focus moving away from being a simple photo-sharing platform of yesteryears. The Meta-owned app has pivoted to different sides, and even considered going fully 9:16 with its default ratio but sense prevailed and the company had to revert back to its earlier phase.
It is a platform that heavily caters to creators these days, who want to connect with their fans and followers. Adding a whole new set of features not only confuses them but also keeps the users on their toes, especially when they are thrown new tools which they never asked for in the first place.
