Instagram’s New Repost & Map Features: Borrowed From X and Snapchat

Instagram’s New Repost and Map Features Are Taken Straight from Other Social Apps

Instagram is rolling out a suite of new features designed to enhance how users share content and connect with their community. Among these are a repost tool and a live location-sharing option, both of which bear a striking resemblance to popular functionalities already found on X (formerly Twitter) and Snapchat.

The Repost Feature: Sharing Made Easy (and Familiar)

The newly introduced Repost feature allows users to easily share public Reels and feed posts, much like X’s (Twitter’s) Retweet function. When you repost content, it becomes visible to your followers and is recommended within their feeds, expanding its reach. For organization, all your reposted content is also stored in a dedicated tab on your profile, making it simple to revisit or share again later.

Instagram has confirmed that original creators are always credited when their content is reposted. This provides an excellent new avenue for creators to gain visibility, as their posts can now be seen by people who don’t directly follow them but are connected to someone who reposted their content. You can also add a quick note to any repost by typing into the “thought bubble” after tapping the repost icon.

Location Sharing: Finding Friends on the Map

Taking a cue from Snapchat, Instagram is introducing a location-sharing tool through its new Instagram Map. Users can choose to share their last active location with selected friends or their Close Friends list. This feature is disabled by default, ensuring users maintain full control over who sees their location and when.

If you enable the feature, Instagram will update your location whenever you open or return to the app. The map also highlights location-tagged content like Reels, Stories, and posts from users you follow or have mutual connections with. This content remains visible for 24 hours and can be easily accessed from the top of your Direct Message (DM) inbox.

For parents utilizing Instagram’s supervision settings, notifications will be sent when their teens begin sharing location data. This allows parents to review who their teen is sharing with and manage access to the feature entirely.

Friends Tab Expands Reels Discovery

In addition to these major updates, Instagram is also launching a Friends tab within Reels. This new tab will display public Reels that your friends have interacted with, along with content recommendations from active “Blends,” which is Instagram’s tool for combining preferences from users and their friends for shared experiences. While the Friends tab was initially rolled out earlier this year, it is now globally available.

The location-sharing feature is currently live in the United States, with Instagram confirming plans for a broader international rollout soon.