The Close Friends feature is a way in which Instagram supports the sharing of content between groups of friends and select communities within the wider app.
Just as you might create a WhatsApp group chat or a Facebook group, Instagram’s Close Friends function is a way of sharing content exclusively with a smaller audience as pre-determined by your Close Friends list.
With a Close Friends list, you can share stories directly to these users, or set up a live stream which is solely visible to them. Here’s how to make a Close Friends list and start sharing personal content exclusively and selectively.
5 Steps to Make a Close Friends List
- Head to your profile page on Instagram and click on the menu button in the top right hand corner (three horizontal lines)
- Select ‘Close Friends’ from the bottom of the list of options
- Select all of the users who you want to add to your Close Friends list. You can scroll through the list suggested by Instagram (with suggestions based on who you interact with the most frequently) or search for users directly using the search bar
- Once you’re happy with your list, select ‘Done’
- You can check your list anytime by following steps 1 & 2, seeing which names are on the list at the top of the screen
NOTE: Users are not notified when you add or remove them to a Close Friends list. The first indication they will get will be when you start sharing updates to your list, which they can see and access.
What Can You Do With a Close Friends List?
Once you have a Close Friends list that you’re happy with, you will find there are several ways of connecting and engaging with them.
One of the easiest to get your head around is Close Friends story updates. Whenever you create a story for your Instagram, the app will ask if you want to send the story to your profile or to your Close Friends list. If you select the latter, your profile picture in their story carousel will have a green border around it to indicate an exclusive story share.
You can also set up a live stream with Close Friends and share any new post or reel so that it can only be seen and shared by Close Friends.
NOTE: Close Friends cannot see who else is on your CF list. However, if you share a piece of content with your Close Friends list, any likes and comments will be visible to other users, allowing them to see some of the other recipients of your exclusive shares.
Close Friends is a quick and easy way to make story sharing more personal to you – giving you more control than ever over who can see your story and other social updates, and who you connect with on a regular basis. We hope that this helps you to use the Close Friends feature as a tool for targeted sharing!
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