Instagram has launched a new Map feature, similar to Snapchat’s Snap Map, allowing users to share their recent locations with friends and discover location-based content. Here we have explained how to activate location sharing (an opt-in feature with privacy controls), and also details other new functionalities like Reposts for public Reels and posts, a global “Friends” tab in Reels to see friends’ activity, and the ability to pin Instagram Notes to specific map locations.
Meta on Wednesday announced new features to Instagram, including reposts, a location-sharing map, and a revamped ‘Friends’. The changes now allow users to share public reels and posts, track friends’ locations, and discover content. However, these features are facing backlash on social media with users alleging that Instagram is just trying to ‘copy TikTok’.
What is Reposting on Instagram?
With reposts, you can repost public reels and feed posts, making it easier for you to share your interests with your friends. Reposts will be recommended to your friends’ and followers’ feeds, and they’ll also be in a separate tab on your profile, so you can always go back to revisit your reposts.
Reposts are credited to the original poster. If you’re a creator, this means that if your content is reposted by someone else, it may be recommended to that person’s followers, even if those people don’t follow you. This gives creators an opportunity to reach even more people.
To repost a reel or post, tap the repost icon. You can also add a note to your repost by typing into the thought bubble that appears on screen and pressing save.
What is the Instagram Map?
Stay up-to-date with friends with the Instagram map. You can opt in to sharing your last active location with friends you choose, and you can turn it off anytime. You can also open the map to see content your friends and favorite creators are posting from interesting or fun locations. No matter how you use the map, you and your friends have a new, lightweight way to connect with each other.
Location sharing is off unless you opt in. If you do share your location with friends, you have controls to customize this experience:
- You choose who you share your location with: friends (followers you follow back), Close Friends, Only selected friends, or no one.
- You can choose to not share location in specific places or with specific people.
- If you use location sharing, your location is updated whenever you open the app or return to the app if it’s been running in the background. You can turn off location sharing at any time.
- If you’re a parent with supervision set up for your teen, you have control over their location sharing experience on the map. You will receive a notification if your teen starts sharing their location, giving you the opportunity to have important conversations about how to safely share with friends. You can decide whether your teen has access to location sharing on the map and see who your teen is sharing their location with.
Regardless of whether you choose to share your location, you can use the map to explore location-based content. From checking out stories from friends who’ve gone to a concert or finding a new place to hang out from a local creator’s reel, there’s content to help you and your friends connect with the world around you.
Any content with a location tagged can show up on the map including:
- Reels, posts, and stories from people you follow, available for 24 hours after it’s posted
- Notes from people you mutually follow, available for 24 hours
You can find the Instagram map at the top of your DM inbox. This feature is rolling out to the US today, with more global availability soon.
Is Location Sharing on Instagram Safe?
Meta has emphasized that “location sharing is opt-in only,” and your location will never be shared as the default setting. However, many of the users still do not feel safe enough using the feature and asked to know who can see the location and for how long. Instagram indicated during its announcement that this feature is supposed to be a “lightweight way to connect,” and you’ll be in control. You can always choose to stop sharing your location or share it only with friends of your choosing.
How Can You Turn Off Location Sharing on Instagram?
You can turn off location sharing at any time by following these steps:
- Open your DM inbox and tap the Map icon.
- Tap the Settings icon again.
- Click on “Open Settings.”
- In your phone’s settings, go to Location and select “Never.”
This will immediately disable Instagram Map from tracking or displaying your location to others.
3. Share locations with friends and see what’s happening around you on the Instagram map 🗺️💞
— Instagram (@instagram) August 6, 2025
And if you’re a parent with supervision set up for your teen, you have control over whether they can share their location, and who they’re sharing with.
(Available in some countries) pic.twitter.com/cMPpl9j20t
Find Out What Your Friends Are Enjoying
We’re introducing Friends, a new tab in Reels where you can see public content your friends have interacted with, or recommendations from Blends you’ve started, and easily start conversations about them. Friends will help you see which reels the people you care about most are creating and engaging with. We started rolling Friends out earlier this year, and are now excited to launch it globally.
To access your Friends tab, tap the “Friends” tab at the top of Reels. To return to your usual Reels feed, tap the “Reels” tab. We’re also rolling out controls for what’s shown in the Friends tab, including the ability to hide your own likes and comments on reels, and to mute activity bubbles from specific people you follow.
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