Instagram recently rolled out one of its more notable updates in 2025, adding new features aimed at deepening connections and giving creators more reach and flexibility. As a cutting-edge marketing agency, 7Side Marketing Group is always keeping an eye on how platform shifts impact content strategy, organic growth, and ad performance. Here’s what’s new, what it means, and how you (or your clients) should adapt.
| Feature | What It Does | Why It Matters for Brands |
|---|---|---|
| Reposts | You can now officially repost public Feed posts or Reels. These reposts get recommended to your followers and show up in a dedicated “Reposts” tab on your profile. | Reposts expand your content’s reach beyond your followers. If someone reposts your content, it may appear in their followers’ feeds—even if they don’t follow you. That can boost virality and discoverability. |
| Instagram Map (Friend Map / Location Sharing) | Opt-in feature that lets you share your last known location (when active) with select friends, plus explore content posted geographically by your network. | For location-based brands (local shops, events, tourism, etc.), this opens new doors. Showing up in location feeds helps with local discovery and “in the moment” engagement |
| “Friends” Tab in Reels | A new Reels feed tab showing content your friends have liked, commented on, reposted, or created. | This is Instagram’s push toward social curation. It nudges users to see what their peer group is loving. Brands that inspire engagement (likes/comments) stand to benefit from increased visibility through their fans. |
| Edits Tool Enhancements & Insights | Enhancements & Insights Instagram continues updating its Edits (its in-house video editing tool) with new insights, voice features, and smooth workflows. | Having more refined analytics and creative tools reduces friction for creators. It helps spot which Reels or video cuts drive retention, and iterate faster. |
| Other Tweaks | Among smaller but meaningful changes: more granular controls for comment visibility, evolving metrics (e.g. replacing “view rate” with “skip rate”), restricting who can go live (thresholds like 1,000+ followers), and testing UI shifts that favor Reels/short video content. | These finer controls affect content planning. For instance, stricter live thresholds push brands to consolidate audience first. Also, the shift in metrics means what success “looks like” is subtly changing—so adapt your KPIs. |
What to Watch Next (And What We’re Monitoring)
- Reels-First UI Tests: Instagram is testing a change where the app opens into Reels by default (in some regions). If that becomes global, vertical video content gets even more emphasis. The Verge+2SocialBee+2
- Algorithmic Weight on Repost Engagement: As reposts become normalized, how much weight Instagram gives to repost engagement (versus original engagement) will be key to watch.
- New Metrics & Reporting Tools: Instagram is adding features like exporting insights from Edits, new metrics around skip and retention, and possibly even “Which slide got the like” in carousels. SocialBee+2Disrupt+2
- Evolving Live Permissions & Access: Live stream access is becoming more gated (e.g. requiring a certain follower count). HeyOrca+2Disrupt+2
- Creative Feature Experiments: Things like stickers, drawing in DMs, or augmented reality overlays are being tested. Be ready to pivot when they land.
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