Instagram users can now experience a significant shift in how they share and engage with content. Meta has officially launched three long-awaited features—Reposts, a Friend Map, and a Friends tab in Reels—bringing a more social and interconnected vibe to the app.
With these changes, Instagram continues its evolution into a space that mirrors and competes with other platforms, all while strengthening connections between users and making content discovery more dynamic.
Reposts Are Finally Here
After years of resisting the idea, Instagram has introduced a built-in Repost feature, allowing users to easily share public feed posts and reels directly to their own followers. This move is a significant pivot from Instagram’s traditional focus on original content.
Now, when you repost a piece of content, it will appear not only in your followers’ feeds but also in a dedicated “Reposts” tab on your profile. Reposts are visually marked by your profile picture with a purple repost icon layered on top, and any comments or thoughts you add appear over the thumbnail.
Instagram clarified the purpose behind this addition:
“With reposts, you can repost public reels and feed posts, making it easier for you to share your interests with your friends.”
For creators, this offers an important visibility boost. If their content is reshared, it may be shown to people who don’t follow them—expanding reach without extra effort.
Instagram reassures that original creators will still receive full credit for their posts, even when others reshare them. This means your reel or post could go viral simply through reposting, even among audiences you haven’t reached before.
Friend Map: Location Sharing with Control
Alongside reposts, Instagram has launched a new Map feature that lets users share their last active location with selected accounts. This opt-in tool is being rolled out in the U.S. and allows friends to stay updated on each other’s whereabouts—ideal for concert nights, foodie meetups, or travel diaries.
Importantly, location sharing is customizable. Users can turn it off anytime and select who can see their activity. Meta emphasizes that safety is a priority, especially for teens.
Parents who manage supervised accounts will receive notifications if their teens begin sharing their location. They also have control over who their child shares it with and whether this feature is even available to them.
This Map feature also doubles as a discovery tool, letting users explore content from specific venues or areas, such as a restaurant featured in a reel or a friend’s concert check-in.
New “Friends” Tab in Reels Feed
The Reels feed is also getting a more personalized social layer with a new “Friends” tab. This tab shows public content that your friends have interacted with—such as videos they’ve liked or commented on—as well as recommendations from Blends you’ve created.
It’s a way to find content that your friends are actually enjoying and a prompt for sparking conversations around shared interests.
To maintain privacy, users can choose to hide their activity. If you don’t want your likes and comments showing up in someone else’s Friends tab, you can opt out. You can also mute specific users’ bubbles if their recommendations aren’t relevant to you.
Instagram’s goal is clear: make the app more about shared experience, rather than just solitary scrolling.
“People have always come to Instagram to share what they’re up to and where they are. Now, with reposts, the map, and the ‘Friends’ tab in Reels, it’s easier for you and your friends to stay in touch through the content you’re enjoying,” said Meta in an official release.
A Bigger Shift in Strategy
Instagram has been slowly building toward this new direction. Earlier this year, it tested features that encouraged users to view Reels liked by friends. Reposts were also being tested as early as March.
Now, with the full rollout, Instagram is redefining how content circulates, making feeds a blend of AI-curated suggestions, original content, and now, friend-driven shares.
While these changes may alter the platform’s feel, they offer new ways for creators to gain exposure and for users to stay connected in a more personal, collaborative way.
