Instagram's 'Close Friends' feature lets you keep Stories private
Keep your intimate moments among BFFs.
Instagram is introducing a bit more privacy to its social network with a new feature called Close Friends. It lets you share Stories that might be of a more private nature with just a select group of besties, while shutting out the rest of your followers. "With Close Friends, you'll have the flexibility to share your personal moments with exactly who you want -- whether that's inside jokes with your team or showing off your new relationship to your inner circle," the company said.
To use the new feature, you first have to designate who you want in your Close Friends list. You have complete control over that list, since no one can request to be added. You'll know if you're on someone's close friend list if you see a green ring around their photo in the Stories tray, or a green badge when viewing their Stories, as shown below.
The new feature gives you very granular control over who sees your Stories, even more so than parent Facebook, it appears. However, it seems to apply only to Stories, not regular posts, for now. In any case, it's a new way to identify your inner circle, while also seeing how close -- or not -- others feel to you.
