FX.co ★ Instagram Experiments With Friend Map Feature

Instagram, a prominent social networking platform owned by Meta Platforms (META), is currently trialing a new location-sharing feature akin to Snapchat's Snap Maps, launched in 2017.

Named “Friend Map,” this feature allows users to share their locations on a map, pinpointing where their text and video content was created. It also includes an option to add Notes, enhancing engagement and interaction among friends and followers.

Presently, this opt-in feature is accessible to a select group of users. Participants can choose to share their locations solely with their "Close Friends" list or with mutual follows within the app, thereby maintaining privacy.

“We are prioritizing safety in developing this feature,” Christine Pai, a spokesperson for Meta, informed The Verge, noting that public location tagging has not been integrated, unlike Snap Maps.

As Instagram continues to refine this feature, further details regarding the duration of location visibility and additional privacy controls will be announced in due course.