Instagram Lets Users Share Stories With a Select Audience

Instagram is launching a new feature that will allow users to share stories with close friends only.

This is an ideal solution for individuals who want to maintain a balance of personal and professional content on Instagram.

An increasingly common trend on Instagram is people creating fake profiles, or “Finstagrams,” specifically for sharing a different type of content with close friends.

Instagram’s new Close Friends option is likely a direct response to the Finstagram trend.

Users who have accounts with a mix of business and personal connections can now share stories only with people they know personally if they prefer.

In order to do that, users need to create a “Close Friends” list, an option that can be found in the side menu.

The next step is to add specific people to the list. No one can request to be added, and information about who’s in the list is private.

When creating stories there will be an option to share with just the close friends list.

Users viewing a story that’s shared with close friends will see a green badge on the photo or video.

Stories for close friends will also be indicated with a green ring around the person’s profile photo.

Close Friends is a feature that has been in testing for months. This past summer we reported on a test spotted by Jade Manchun Wong.

For those keeping scores, this is yet another discovery by Wong that ended up receiving an official release.

Close Friends is now available worldwide on Instagram for iOS and Android.