Instagram Blend: New Way to Create Personalized Reels for You and Your Friends

Instagram is working on a new feature called “Blend,” which aims to create a personalized feed of Reels for you and a friend. This feature is still in the early stages of development and is not yet available for external testing, according to a statement from the company.

The discovery of this feature was made by Alessandro Paluzzi, a reverse engineer known for uncovering upcoming features on social media platforms. Based on a screenshot shared by Paluzzi, Blend will recommend Reels based on the ones you have shared with each other and your interests in Reels.

Instagram Blend: New Way to Create Personalized Reels for You and Your Friends

In simpler terms, if you invite a friend to a “Blend,” Instagram will curate a feed of Reels that it thinks both of you will enjoy. This concept is somewhat similar to Spotify’s “Blend” feature, introduced in 2021, which allows two users to merge their favourite songs into a shared playlist.

The screenshot suggests that Blends will be private between you and the other user, and you can leave a Blend at any time. Instagram has not provided further details about the feature, such as whether the recommendations will update continuously or at certain intervals.

The aim of Blend is to help users discover new Reels together, potentially increasing engagement with the Reels feature. By leveraging the data of Reels shared via direct messages, Instagram aims to suggest and display Reels that are likely to interest both users.

It’s important to note that as a prototype, there is no confirmation on when or if Instagram will launch Blend to the public. If it does, Blend could offer Instagram Reels users a unique and collaborative feature not currently available on TikTok, its rival platform. While this feature could provide Instagram with a slight competitive advantage, TikTok continues to dominate the short-form video market

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