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Instagram is adding a new element to Reels that could end in disaster or could drive more engagement.
Over the past few weeks, some Instagram users have noticed a new indicator in the upper-right corner of the Reels player window that shows profile bubble images representing your friends, with a heart or comment icon on each.
This is a new way to show you the content your connections have liked or commented on in the app, and if you tap that indicator, you’ll be able to see the posts your friends have been engaging with.
As you can see in the second image, the idea here is to drive engagement, so Instagram has placed a reply bar in front of these posts, so you can easily reply to your friend/friends regarding their engagement with that content.
And it makes sense because it shows you content that you both might be interested in and encourages that initial engagement.
But it also seems risky. I mean, what if Instagram shows you that your friend liked a totally offensive meme, or if it shows your jealous partner that you liked another person’s Reel that seems fishy?
To be clear, the functionality won’t show your connections everything you like in the app, just a selection, and I imagine IG’s algorithms will be tweaked to avoid situations like these, on potentially harmful content.
But it still seems like it might reveal more than some users would like, and for little gain, since I doubt it will drive a ton more engagement.
But Instagram clearly thinks it’s on to a winner, and in line with its focus strengthening “creativity and connection”wants to try new ways to encourage that interaction and encourage more people to be more social on stream.
Also, it can be a little confusing. The first time you see it, it may seem like the content you’re viewing has been liked by friends listed in the top right corner, but you actually have to tap that indicator to see the posts they’ve engaged with .
Just an additional note based on my past experience with it.