Embarrassing Instagram change shows your friends the videos you’ve liked as fans slam ‘worst feature update ever’

INSTAGRAM has brought in a new feature that exposes the videos you’ve liked to your friends – and it could result in some embarrassing interactions.

You may have noticed it already as you scroll through Reels – small bubbles with your friends profile pictures, adorned with a little heart overlay in the bottom left hand corner.

These new icons show which of your friends have liked the Reel you have stumbled upon.

It appears to only include your friends – so, the people you follow who follow you back, and not public figures or random accounts.

The feature applies to Reels viewed in the specific Reels tab, and those found through the Explore page.

It is intended to boost engagement, encourage people to comment and share Reels as Instagram looks to fill the TikTok void with its rival now banned from US app stores.

In a recent Reel, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri, said: “We want Instagram not to be just a place where creatives share their creativity, but one where people connect over that creativity – with friends, with shared interests.

“We’re going to add some friends to the Reels tab, so when you go to the Reels tab you’ll see a few friends in the top right.

“If you tap on that pill, you’ll end up on a dedicated feed of Reels that your friends have liked.

“And you can seen which friends have actually liked those Reels, and if you tap on them you can start a conversation with them.”

Instagram has made a number of changes to its video offering in recent weeks, as it aims to keep ‘TikTok refugees’ even as US president Donald Trump attempts to revive the app following a short-lived ban.

Meta, which owns Instagram, is paying influencers thousands of dollars to post on Reels before posting on TikTok, Mashable reported.

The same day TikTok was banned, Instagram unveiled a new video editing app called Edits, which resembles TikTok’s editing app CapCuts.

But Instagram users are squeamish about having their likes on show for the world (their friends) to see, and have dubbed it the “worst feature update ever”.

I can’t imagine how panicked some users are about to be with even worse or thirstier likes about to get blasted to all their followers.

Instagram and Reddit user

“I don’t want my likes to be blasted out there for all my friends to see,” one Instagram user posted on Reddit.

“I like a lot of thirsty love and deep space reels lol. They’re not ready for that.

“I can’t imagine how panicked some users are about to be with even worse or thirstier likes about to get blasted to all their followers.”

Another added: “I guess I’ll just stop liking reels now – which is the opposite of what IG wants but idgaf what my followers like and I certainly won’t “start a conversation” with them.”

The new feature is a throwback to the days of the Activity feed, a long-gone tab that showed users what their followers were up to.

That included posts they liked, as well as accounts they followed.

“I mean there’s always been a risk of seeing what someone likes if they see it, but this is just going backwards to the crappy Activity feed days,” a third user posted.

Several users claim they have already deactivated their accounts because of the change.

While others say they will just make new ‘burner’ accounts to avoid friends and family interacting with Reels they have liked.