Instagram is preparing a new functionality for closed groups

As Instagram strives to align the direction of its app development with changing user behavior, it is introducing a new option to share posts from its feed only with close friends. This provides an additional way for slightly more closed group communication.

As you can see in the example on the link www.bit.ly/InstagramRN1, published by influencer marketing expert Lia Haberman (via creator Jordan Shalhoub), some users are already seeing a new “Audience” option when preparing a post, allowing them to share their “feed” post with everyone or just close friends. This is otherwise a classic type of post on their profile.

Since 2018, Instagram has allowed us to share content like "Notes" and "Reels" with close friends, but until now, you couldn't share "feed" posts this way.

Instagram has been experimenting with several different ways to share content privately, including ways to share posts with select users. You can also set a privacy level in your profile to limit the availability of posts for public viewing. But the new option would allow limiting who can see your posts right inside the creation process. Thus, the setting could be activated for each post separately.

The update is a logical continuation of the moves of the big social networks, which, from the initial focus on public posts, are increasingly leaning towards private use of the networks and use in smaller, closed circles of groups. The first man of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has repeatedly said that Instagram users now share much more content through private messages than through “feed” posts or stories. So of course his team is working intensively on developing new features that connect with this trend, including collaborative posts, collections of posts in chats, notes and more.

Sharing posts with only your closest friends is another step in this direction that could help users feel more comfortable sharing content more often, knowing that only a few trusted people will see their post.

It is a minor change and, functionally speaking, a minor shift. But regardless, it introduces an additional option for closed group discussions, which could help Instagram keep up with the latest behavioral trends.