‘Close friends’: Instagram’s new feature allows you share stories to a more limited group

After 18 months of testing, Instagram introduces a different kind of friends list. In June 2017, Instagram announced that it had started testing the “favorites” feature which was one of the added tools for private sharing. The company has introduced yet another improvement to that feature. The “close friends” feature, as it is called, will be limited to Stories. It is a step to create a space where actual friends can intimate.

To use the new feature, users are to initiate the Stories camera and take a photo or video. After the shot is taken, a new green circle with a white star in it appears. By tapping it, next comes the close friends list where one can add people to one’s inner circle. Instagram suggests friends based on the people you interact with most. You can also use a search box to finish your list.

Battle for Kogi West: Melaye, Adeyemi rekindle rivalry

By the time you have finished with the list, you will be able to share to your close friends by tapping the green circle whenever you capture a photo or video for Stories. Your close friends will see a green ring around your story in the tray at the top of the feed. It’s a visual signal that a close friend has shared something more privately with you, and it should stand out from the standard pink-purple gradient rings.

Friends are never notified that you added them to, or removed them from, your list. Unlike a Finstagram, people can’t request to join your circle of close friends. If they’re on your list, they’ll see the green rings when you post to your close friends; if they’re not, they won’t. But you’ll still maintain “plausible deniability,” says Robby Stein, product lead at Instagram, as most people will simply assume you haven’t posted anything to your close friends group.

It is likely that the use of Close friends will extend beyond close friends. Brands creating fan clubs or VIP lists in which people can opt in to receive additional posts can reap gains from it. However, Instagram hasn’t built any special tools to let publishers manage these lists, but it is believed that with time brands will pressure the company to let them use the close friends list for business purposes.

Credit: www.theverge.com