How to Make Your Instagram Stories Available Only to “close Friends”
Instagram is one of those platforms like Twitter, and I’ve always considered the content I post to be accessible to the masses. Yes, I know both have a “private” account option, but I’ve always thought that the value of both lies in interacting with people outside of your circle.
And then I started using Instagram Stories. While I have no problem with strangers commenting on and watching my carefully curated Instagram photos, my stories tend to be a little more personal. Instagram introduced a new feature this week so you can keep your personal details while keeping your account (and your chosen stories) public.
Called Close Friends, this feature lets you choose whether an image will be shared with the public or only with people on your close friends list when you add it to a story. No one will know if they are on your “close friends” list or not, so you can choose who you want to include.
To use it, you must first (obviously) create a list of close friends.
To do this, tap your profile icon in the Instagram app, then tap the hamburger icon in the upper right corner of the page. From there, select “Close Friends List” from the drop-down menu. You can manually add people by clicking the Add button next to their name, or you can click Suggestions to make things a little easier (Instagram will show you the people you chat with frequently on the platform).
Once you’ve made your list, you’ll start seeing the Close Friends icon when you create your Instagram story. Click on it and the story will only be sent to your close friends.
That’s all.
It’s worth noting that Close Friends stories are indicated with a green circle around them, not a red one. This way, while you won’t know that you are on a friend’s list of close friends, you will know that the story you are viewing was sent only to close friends (so you can understand that you are on someone’s list quite quickly).
Also worth noting, images posted on Close Friends Stories cannot be posted elsewhere, so you don’t have to worry about your cover being ripped apart by a close friend sharing your photo in their feed.