December 3, 2018
Instagram is hot property right now and slowly but surely becoming Facebook’s golden goose. So it’s no surprise the social giant is putting more efforts in to make sure people are spending even more time inside the app.
One annoyance when it comes to Instagram Stories is that sometimes you just don’t want to share certain things with certain people. Your boss does NOT need to see you neck 12 tequilas on a “Random Tuesday” (in my case it would probably be the boss filming the video…). Many users already have separate accounts, or “finstagrams” (fake-instagram accounts) for this exact reason and it looks like Instagram has been paying attention. To make sure that we’re all sharing more and more authentically, the latest Instagram update comes with the new Close Friends feature. It allows you to build a private list of people you want to share content with that perhaps is a bit more personal. It’s funny how after so many years of constantly trying to reach out to more and more people we are now at a stage when we rather just block some people out. Don’t you ever dread that friend request from someone you have 1 mutual friend with, and that friend is always either your mum or an ex-colleague from a part-time job you did 9 years ago? Leave me alone, you don’t want to know me.
To create your Close Friends list go to your profile and tap on the settings tab on the top right. As you tap on Close Friends you’ll then have the option to create your list by typing in the names of people you wish to include. No one can request to be put on your list and no one is able to access or see your list either. When you share your Stories with your Close Friends they’ll see a little green circle to know they’re your ‘chosen ones’. You can add or remove as many people as you want without them knowing, they just will or won’t see your green circled Close Friends story.
The new feature certainly appears to be a clever step forward. By enabling users to not have to think twice about sharing certain posts, people will likely spend more time on the app. And more time on the app means more opportunity for your content to land in front of their faces.