Instagram is Testing Blend, a Shared Feed Between Friends Based on Their Interests
Adam Mosseri
Instagram is starting to test a new feature called Blend, as shared by Instagram head Adam Mosseri in his latest Ask Me Anything. The feature creates a shared feed of Reels between users and their friends, tailored to the Reels they've sent each other and their individual interests.
How It Works:
Users can invite others to join a Blend in Direct Messages by tapping a Blend icon, which appears as two avatars blended together at the top of their thread.
The other person will see an invitation in their Direct Messages, where they can accept the invitation to join.
Once accepted, users will see a feed of recommended Reels based on each other’s activity.
New Reels will be recommended based on content shared between each other via Direct Messages as well.
Users can leave a Blend at any time.
Why It Matters: Blend is Instagram’s latest move to deepen content discovery through close connections. With over 4.5 billion Reels shared daily across Instagram and Facebook, the platform is doubling down on how people engage with content today—through private messages rather than public feeds.
By curating Reels based on what friends are already sharing, Instagram is making content consumption feel more communal and personal.
This builds on its recent update that introduces a dedicated feed showing Reels that friends have engaged with. However, Instagram isn’t alone in prioritizing private sharing and content discovery through connections. It supports one of its main priorities for the year too, in making content recommendations and consumption more social.
Instagram’s investments seem to be influencing other platforms with leveraging messages and social connections as avenues for discovery. For example, LinkedIn is also expanding into these spaces, rolling out features that make it easier for users to share posts with each other and surface trending content within their network.
