If you've recently double-tapped an Instagram feed, your friends might be able to see it, thanks to a new Instagram update. Reels on Instagram is introducing a new Friends tab that shows you all the videos your friends have liked and engaged with, the company published Friday. The new feature starts today for US users.
This will be different from the Reels Friends tab, which shows you all the videos made and posted by the accounts you follow. This is more reminiscent of the TikTok algorithm, which will weave videos your friends DM you into your page for you.
You can view this special Reels feed by tapping a new tablet-shaped widget in the top right corner — displaying some of your friends' profile pictures — and the new dedicated feed will open. You can also reply to those videos or start DMs with friends from there. Don't worry if you don't see the option yet – new features may take some time to roll out.
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The update follows a tumultuous start to the year for Meta. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company will be completion of its third-party fact-checking program across all its platforms and an overhaul of content moderation. Proposed changes to the content moderation policy include loosening restrictions on how users can talk about gender identity and immigration, in what Zuckerberg called a return to the company's “roots around free expression.”
Fact-checking groups and LGBTQ+ advocates are concerned about what this means for the quality and security of information on the platforms.
The new feature also comes on the same day as The US Supreme Court upheld the law which would effectively ban TikTok unless it sells its US business by January 19 to a new buyer approved by US officials. President Joe Biden has stated he will not implement the ban in the final hours of his presidency, and President-elect Donald Trump, who is sworn in on Monday, has said he is interested in finding a political solution.
But the decision casts a lot of uncertainty over the future of the video-based social media for TikTok's 170 million-plus active users in the US, some of whom may want to migrate to Instagram Reels or other alternative locations.