Meta’s social network, Instagram, continues to imitate features from other platforms, in this case it will be the repost function. This situation is no longer surprising in the various companies owned by Mark Zuckerberg. As confirmed to the TechCrunch site, the forwarding feature is being tested so that users can share content from others in their feeds. This feature is very similar to what would become Twitter retweets, which were implemented in 2009. Also what may be reblogs or shares from other networks such as TikTok, Facebook or Tumblr.
While sharing stories is not a new concept on Instagram, what is not possible is sharing in a post. However, to do so in our feed it needs to be done via Instagram Stories or via direct message. Now, the social network owned by Meta is looking for the ability to share it publicly. Until now, in order to share a post from another account, you had to take a screenshot of the image you wanted to share on your account.
Retweeting as a new feature on Instagram
The social network is, as confirmed by a spokesperson to the site The Verge, that this function is in a testing stage. This implies that only a “handful” of users can use this functionality prior to approval. The platform has been developing this function for quite some time. Some users already noticed, last May, that it was available for testing.
Instagram’s spokesperson, via email, explained the following to The Verge:
“We are exploring the ability to share posts in feed, similar to how you can share in Stories, so that people can share what resonates with them, and for the original creators to be credited for their work.”
In recent times, the social network has been host to a lot of back and forth in terms of user experience for the app’s users. Among the latest tests that have begun to be tested is the “sincere challenges” function. It is very similar to the popular photo application owned by the social network BeReal.
Changes, but very similar
Another change that has been seen lately is the IG Reels. This comes as Meta continues to push to look like its biggest competitor, TikTok. This situation has generated millions of users to protest by viralizing different hashtags. The biggest change seen in recent times has been in the area of video. There, the implementation of a full-screen UI/UX generated significant backlash; however, the company decided to reverse this decision, but it does not appear to be firm and there may be pushback.
In recent times, Instagram has had different micro-battles against users in the quest to look like TikTok. Although they are usually won by large technology companies, in this case, users have been planting flags and forcing Meta to suffer several setbacks.
