Instagram Close Friends List Locks Stories Down To Your VIPs
Feel free to retire your finsta, with Instagram adding the ability to limit which of your friends can see your Instagram Stories. The new Close Friends feature adds an extra level of control over who can view photos and videos shared on Instagram, without being as restrictive as a completely private account.
Currently, Instagram offers two choices for visibility. On the one hand, you can have a public Instagram account, and have all of your photos, videos, and Instagram Stories – the auto-expiring stream of media – available to anybody. At the other extreme, a private account locks down both regularly posted content and Instagram Stories.
This new Close Friends feature slots somewhere in-between the two. You'll now be able to make a list of the Instagram accounts of close friends who you want to be able to see a more private Stories, and make posts that only that group can see.
"Instagram Stories has become the place to express yourself and share everyday moments," Instagram said of the new feature, "but our community has grown and sometimes what you want to share isn't for everyone. With Close Friends, you have the flexibility to share more personal moments with a smaller group that you choose."
The Close Friends list can be found in your Instagram profile, in the side menu. It's private, and even those people on the list won't see who else has been added. Instagram isn't offering add requests, either.
If you have a Close Friends list set up, when you share to Instagram Stories there'll be a new option to share just to the closed group. Otherwise the media will act just like it usually does, automatically deleting after 24 hours.
Conversely, if you've been added to someone's Close Friends list, you'll know you're seeing something from their private Stories because there'll be a green badge when you're viewing. The ring in the Instagram UI which shows there's new Stories content will also be green. Instagram won't be notifying people when they're added to a list, nor if they're removed from on.
Support for the Close Friends list will be rolling out across Instagram globally from today, on both iOS and Android.