Instagram will show your friends which wheels you’ve liked

A new tab in the Reels feed will show videos that a user’s friends have liked or commented on, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced in a video message today. Users will be able to see which friends have liked a video – a callback to the old Instagram “activity” feed who were killed in 2019.

“We want Instagram to be not just a place where you consume entertaining content, but a place where you connect over that content with friends,” says Mosseri. In the new feed, you’ll be able to see which friends have liked a post and which have left a temporary “note” on a wheel.

Be careful what you like I guess?
Image: Meta

That sounds great in an ideal world, but given the way the previous “activity” feed was scrutinized, I’m willing to bet that many users actually not want their friends to see all the reels they’ve liked. (I’m not sure what benefits or insight my friends would get from seeing that I liked every single Shohei Ohtani post that crossed my feed, but OK.) It might also discourage people from publicly engaging with content in this way to avoid it being shown to all their friends. It’s also not a given that you’ll share interests or hobbies just because you’re friends with someone – for many people, it’s the hyperpersonal nature of TikTok that makes the experience interesting in the first place.

Other platforms like X have gone the opposite route by hiding user likes, in part because people kept getting caught liking embarrassing things (if anyone catches Ted Cruz liking thirst trap wheels, email me email immediately). Meta did not immediately respond to questions about whether users can opt out of having their activity displayed in the new Reels feed.

Instagram stands to benefit if its biggest rival, TikTok, is forced to pull out of the US this weekend. Reels is Instagram’s answer to TikTok, but many creators and users say the atmosphere on Reels doesn’t live up to the environment TikTok has cultivated. While the new feature might stir up drama and draw some users into the Reels feed, it could also have the opposite effect for those who don’t want all of their interests broadcast.