Instagram Adds Opt-In Location Map and Reposts to Bolster Social Features

Meta Platforms’ Instagram introduced several features designed to make the photo-sharing service feel more like a real-time social network and less like a passive video feed. The update, released on 6 August and rolling out first in the United States, adds an opt-in “Instagram Map” that lets users share their most recent active location with selected contacts and view posts tied to specific places. Location sharing is off by default, updates only when the app is opened and includes parental controls for teen accounts. Instagram is also debuting an in-feed repost function for public Reels and grid posts. Content that users repost will appear in followers’ feeds and in a new Reposts tab on their profile, echoing TikTok’s repost option and X’s retweet. A separate Friends tab in Reels, previously limited to the US, is now available globally, showing videos that friends have liked, commented on or reposted, with new controls to hide or mute such activity. Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri said the changes are intended to shift the platform from a “lean-back” entertainment model toward more direct interaction among friends. The moves continue Instagram’s strategy of borrowing popular tools from rivals, following earlier clones of Snapchat Stories and TikTok-style short videos.