Instagram’s New Feature: Connect Over Shared Interests
Picks is a new experimental feature Instagram is developing to help users highlight their interests and potentially find friends who share them. Specifically early insights include.
Declare Your Interests
Users can select favorites such as movies books games music TV shows and more these are their Picks. Consequently the feature helps them find common ground with others.
Instagram will identify overlaps between a user’s Picks and their friends Picks thereby making shared interests easier to discover. Consequently this fosters connection and conversation.
Though still in early development Picks may help users spark meaningful interactions by highlighting shared passions. Moreover this aligns with Instagram head Adam Mosseri’s vision to make the platform more social and conversation-driven. Currently it remains in the prototype phase only.
According to TechCrunch and Social Media Today Instagram confirmed that Picks remains an internal prototype and has not reached the public yet.
How the Feature Works
1. Community Chat Discord-Style Group Chats
Instagram is testing a Community Chat feature inspired by Discord. Notably it would allow users to create topic-focused group chats with up to 250 participants where all members can actively engage in discussions. Unlike Broadcast Channels which are one-way these chats foster two-way interaction. Furthermore group admins will have moderation tools to remove messages or members and chats will be reviewed for compliance with community standards.
2. Collaborative Interest Groups
A feature dubbed Collaborative Interest is in limited testing. Users can create groups around shared interests like music or art invite followers and explore related content together. This is still in early stages and has not yet been widely released.
Group Profiles Like Facebook Groups
Instagram previously experimented with Group Profiles allowing users to jointly manage content under one shared profile. This was positioned to enable collaborative storytelling via Stories Feed posts or Reels offering a community-like space under a unified identity.
4. Discovering Shared Interests via Picks
Under development is a feature called Picks which lets users highlight favorite items such as movies books and music. Instagram then surfaces overlaps in interests with friends making it easier to find common ground.
5. Discover Together” Collaborative Feed
Instagram also tested a feature that surfaces a collaborative feed a content stream composed of posts from accounts that both you and a friend interact with. This aims to highlight mutual interests and spark shared discovery.Social Media Today
- Dedicated spaces within the app for specific interests
- Improved search and discovery tools
- Recommendations based on user activity
Potential Benefits
This feature could significantly benefit users by:
- Facilitating the discovery of like-minded individuals.
- Creating more engaging and relevant content feeds.
- Strengthening community bonds within the platform.
Implications for Businesses and Creators
The new feature also holds potential for businesses and creators on Instagram:
- Opportunities for targeted engagement with specific interest groups.
- Enhanced brand visibility within relevant communities.
- New avenues for content creation and collaboration.
