Instagram Close Friends feature gives those of us who have craved the ability to privately share stories with a “selected few” a tool to do so. Sharing stories has become more intimate with the help of this little feature. You can customise your very own group of people who you may want to share stories with exclusively.
Like any other social media platform when Instagram was first launched it was mostly used amongst friends connecting to one another.
The community was based around following friends you knew to gain an insight into their overly filtered lives. People felt instantly closer by having a window into each other’s lives.
Over time that quickly changed. People soon started to follow anyone that they knew or only knew of. Parents, bosses, colleagues, and neighbours were soon added to those you followed.
Here is Why The Close Friends Feature Rocks
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Ability to select individuals with whom you are happy to share a private story
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They will not be notified if they are added to a list
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They will not be notified if they are removed from the list
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No-one, but you can see who is on your list.
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A green colour outlines the story shared to allow your close friends to know you have only shared that content directly with them.
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Instagram displays the Close Friends icon on the story on the top right-hand side for those who might miss the green ring indication around the story.
We Are a Huge Fan of The Close Friends Feature
At first, it seemed like a great idea to connect to as many people as you knew online because everyone was measuring their popularity online.
It quickly removed all matters of privacy. Privacy was no longer a choice. Anything shared was shared with all of your followers.
Now that your home page had become cramped with things you simply didn’t care about, you also knew you couldn’t unfollow or remove people either. That would just cause chaos.
The truth is, it wasn’t so much about you as an individual, it had just become a popularity contest.
The Close Friends feature makes sharing your stories exciting and more private than ever. This clever tool allows you to revert back to use Instagram in it’s most authentic intent.
It gives you a platform to connect and share with those that matter with no restrictions.
Instagram Reformation
With Instagram’s original intent reformed through users craving visibility, businesses quickly came to realise that reaching their audiences had become easier than ever.
It was no longer about connecting to those who you actually knew. Instagram was reshaped further around connecting to those who you didn’t know.
People measured their popularity online and desired more followers. Both personal and business accounts started to gain huge followers.
The competition for producing high-quality original content became bigger than ever. You simply couldn’t share whatever you wanted anymore, because to keep your audience engaged; you had to stand out.
Tips for Integrating The Close Friends Feature With Your Business
We have witnessed a dramatic change in the way in which businesses use Instagram. It’s vastly used within marketing, and businesses worldwide use their platform to increase brand exposure.
As a business user, you will have the freedom of sharing privately with your fans, your team, or influencers you may have teamed up with.
Share unique content directly with your loyal customers such as:
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Promotional codes
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Discount codes
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Bonus features
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Exclusive product sneak peeks
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A chance to win something
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Free samples
Help your influencers promote your business more effectively by sharing updates and product details directly via the ‘close friend’ feature.
Engage privately with your team members/colleagues.
The Instagram Success Story
Instagram has been so successful because they have kept their original format over the years, and have carefully implemented useful tools to enhance user experience.
Their success is based in their continuous work improving and coming up with new strategies around their available features. Their constant need for improvement is what makes them stand out from the rest.
