Instagram’s new ‘Friends’ tab lets you see what your friends are liking and the internet can't stop giggling

Instagram has dropped a new feature that’s already got people talking as it’s both hilarious and somewhat terrifying. Remember the days when you could just scroll through content without anyone knowing? That’s about to change.

Introducing the ‘Friends’ tab in Instagram’s Reels section, where you can now peep all the videos your friends have liked or commented on.

Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s big boss, announced this feature, which is like the ‘Following’ tab they got rid of in 2019. Back then, it was way too easy to get all up in your friend's business, and it definitely had some privacy concerns, so they nixed it.

But now that things with TikTok are getting interesting, Meta is perhaps prepping for the storm.

Leave it to social media to turn everything into a comedy show. Users are acting majorly sus now that they can see exactly what their friends are up to. Some are cracking up, while others are straight-up terrified.

One user joked: “IG getting things ready for when that TikTok ban hits.”

A user humorously mentioned: “Perfect now you can easily identify the thirst traps your friends are watching.”

One person quipped: “they are trying to steal everyone from TikTok when it shuts down soon.”

A user shared a more real concern:

“But I have no friends, what shall I do.”

A comment read: “So now I can stalk my friends more easily 👍”

Another comment read: “NOOOO THEY’RE GONNA EXPOSE ALL THE SECRET STUFF I LIKE.”

Meanwhile, a user revealed: “I just discovered that when you look at reels on insta it shows you reels that some of your followers liked and omg I'm seeing things😭😭”

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What’s in the Friends tab, anyway?

Instagram’s ‘Friends’ tab lets you see which Reels your friends are vibing with and, yes, their comments too. A lot of folks are comparing it to TikTok’s Friends tab, which only shows you videos your mutual followers have liked.

“We want Instagram to not only be a place where you consume entertaining content, but one where you connect over that content with friends,” Mosseri announced.

But not everyone is feeling it. Some are worried that this will mess with their privacy—imagine your crush seeing what you liked at 3 a.m. when you were deep-diving into random food videos.

This new feature brings back a concept Instagram tried before but eventually ditched. The original ‘Following’ tab lets users track their friends’ interactions across the platform. But, due to privacy issues, it got the axe in 2019.

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So…is this a win or a loss for privacy?

On the surface, the Friends tab might seem like a way to keep you more connected. But with everyone’s eyeballs on everyone else’s activity, we might see some folks ghosting the "like" button or holding off on commenting just to keep things lowkey.

Nobody wants to have their every move tracked.

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Is Instagram’s Friends tab like TikTok's?

The Friends tab on Instagram Reels shows videos that your friends have liked or commented on, letting you see what they're vibing with and encouraging engagement around shared interests.

On the flip side, TikTok’s Friends feature offers a dedicated feed that only shows content from mutual followers—those who follow you back. This is a shift from TikTok’s usual For You Page, which curates content for a wider audience based on the algorithm.