Instagram’s Stories feature is incredibly popular, with over 500 million people engaging with it daily. In fact, a staggering 85% of all Instagram users post a Story every single day. With such a large user base of over 2.3 billion active users, it’s understandable that some may be hesitant to share their Stories with everyone. Fortunately, Instagram is testing a new solution that may help.
The platform is currently testing the capability to share Stories with multiple audience lists. This new feature aims to give users better control over who gets to see their Stories by allowing them to share with smaller, more specific groups. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, shared details about this testing phase on his Instagram broadcast channel.
Previously, Instagram introduced the Close Friends feature, which allowed users to share their Stories exclusively with a select group of close friends. This feature ensures that the Stories remain hidden from the wider audience. To use this feature, users need to specify who they want in their Close Friends list. The user has complete control over this list, as no one can request to join it.
The new feature being tested takes the Close Friends concept further by enabling users to create multiple lists, not just one for close friends. For example, users can have a list exclusively for classmates, another for co-workers, or even one for family members. This gives users the power to decide who sees what, emphasizing the importance of privacy. Not everyone wants to share their moments with over 2.3 billion people, after all.
In light of recent reports revealing that Meta used public Facebook and Instagram posts to train parts of its new Meta AI virtual assistant, concerns surrounding privacy have grown. In this context, utilizing features like Close Friends or the upcoming one being tested on Instagram might be a wise choice. Speaking of the new AI assistant, it is already rolling out to WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook.
Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting new feature that Instagram is testing.
