Now, you can control who can see your Instagram Stories
Ever since Instagram took off, users have been asking for some privacy-focused features to share photos with a select circle rather than all of their followers. The Facebook-owned company promised such tools, and now, after a year of that promise, we got the first piece of the pie - a feature to restrict your Stories to 'close friends'. Here's how you can use it.
First up, let's see how this feature works
The feature, which has been dubbed 'Close Friends', is a simple list, where you can add the people who are close to you or with whom you want to share your daily moments. You'd be able to search, add friends into this list and keep people who are not close to you out of the loop, be it your parents, teachers, bosses.
How to access this list
Accessing and using this list is fairly simple. Just head over to your Instagram profile and slide from right to left or tap on three dash button on the upper right corner. This will give options like 'Nametag' and 'Your Activity' as well as the 'Close Friends List'. Tap on it and search for friends to add them or, alternatively, use the 'Suggestions' tab.
What to do after creating the 'Close Friends' list
After creating the list, you have to go through the same old Story-sharing process. However, when you select a photograph/video and are about to share it, Instagram will show an additional 'Close Friends' button (green circle with a star) next to the regular 'Your Story' option. Tapping on it will share your story only with those Instagram users who are on your list.
Other users won't know they are out of the loop
As 'Close Friends' is a user-driven feature, nobody can see your list or request you to add them. If you add someone, they'll see your story in a green colored ring instead of the pink-purple one and know that they are on your list. But if you don't, left-out users won't see anything or know that they are being kept out of the loop.
And, you can use this feature right away
The Close Friends feature is rolling out across the globe starting today. It will be available on both iOS and Android, but don't go looking for it without updating your Instagram app to the latest version.
