If you double-tapped an Instagram Reel recently, your friends may be able to see it, thanks to a new Instagram update. Instagram Reels is introducing a new friends tab that shows you all the videos your friends have liked and engaged with, the companyannounced Friday. The new feature is rolling out starting today for US users.This will be different from your friends tab on Reels, which shows you all the videos made and posted by the accounts you follow. This is more reminiscent of the TikTok algorithm, which would weave in videos your friends DMed you into your For Your page.You can see this separate Reels feed by tapping a new pill-shaped widget in the top right corner -- showing a couple of your friends' profile pictures -- and the new dedicated feed will open. You can also reply to those videos or start DMs with friends from there. Don't worry if you don't see the option yet -- new feature rollouts can take some time.Read more: Instagram's New Teen Accounts: What Parents and Kids Need to KnowThe update follows a tumultuous start of the year for Meta. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company will be ending its third-party fact-checking program across all its platforms and overhauling its content moderation. The proposed changes to the content moderation policy include loosening restrictions around how users can talk about gender identity and immigration, in what Zuckerberg called a return to the company's "roots around free expression."Fact-checking groups and LGBTQ+ advocates have worried about what it means for information quality and safety on the platforms.The new feature also comes on the same day as the US Supreme Court upheld the law that would effectively ban TikTok if it doesn't sell its US business by Jan. 19 to a new buyer approved by US officials. President Joe Biden has indicated he won't enforce the ban during the last few hours of his presidency, and President-elect Donald Trump, who gets sworn in on Monday, has said he's interested in finding a political solution.But the decision throws a lot of uncertainty over the future of video-based social media for TikTok's over 170 million active US users, some of whom might want to migrate to Instagram Reels or other alternative sites.
