
In today’s episode, Brock Johnson breaks down the latest Instagram update for 2025, covering 10 new features you haven’t seen yet. From the new Instagram repost feature to the trial Reels limits and the Instagram Friends tab for Reels, he’ll...
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This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. There has been absolutely so many changes to Instagram recently. And so in today's episode I'm going to break down for you the 10 most recent Instagram updates that you need to know that are going to make the biggest difference for your brand or business on Instagram. Instagram is always changing and according to Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, the algorithm changes on a daily basis. But every once in a while there are massive shifts, whether it's a new feature, a new kind of post, or a complete change to the way Instagram is used. And so that's what's going to be covered in today's episode. The first piece of Instagram news that you need to know about is probably the most important of all. And and it is that Instagram has added an entirely new way to engage an entirely new feature on the app called reposts. Reposts are something that we've been asking for on Instagram pretty much since day one. And finally Instagram has made it a thing. Now what exactly is a repost? It's similar to a retweet on Twitter or reposts that have been available on TikTok for the last few years where basically Person A can repost Person B's post and then Person B's post will show up on the feeds of anyone who follows Person A. Now I say anyone, but it's not necessarily going to show up on everyone's feed, right? It's not a guarantee. If I see your post and I repost it, it's not guaranteed that every single one of my followers is going to see it. But it's kind of like I am recommending that my followers see it. So basically the algorithm will take that repost into consideration when it's determining what my followers will see. Now, anything that I repost I cannot change. I cannot edit. My name does not go on it. Nothing changes about the post. Its besides a little tiny bubble that will appear in the bottom left corner that denotes that this post was reposted by me. Additionally, this repost will not show up on my profile grid, but it will show up in a new tab on my profile, which is where all reposted posts will show the most common question that I've already been receiving about reposts is what's the difference between a repost and a share? A share is one person sending a post to someone else, to a group chat, or even to their Instagram stor stories. So it's sending it to a specific group of people. If I'm sharing a post with my wife, my wife is the only recipient. If I'm sharing a post with my group chat of friends, those 10 people are the only recipients. If I'm sharing a post to my story, theoretically anyone who follows me, or even anyone who doesn't follow me, just anyone who views my story could see that post. But the difference is that story shares are only available for 24 hours, just like any Instagram story is only available for 24 hours. But because feed posts don't have an expiration, if I reshare your post and thus it's showing up in someone else's feed, it could potentially show up in their feed days or even weeks after I originally reposted it. Additionally, because it lives on forever in my new Reposts tab on my profile, if someone visits my profile three years from now, they could theoretically tap on that Reposts tab, scroll down to the bottom and find something that I reposted a long time ago. Another common question I've already been receiving is should we repost our own posts? And while it's still early on, and I don't want to make any conclus statements yet, our early testing and my early assumptions suggest that no, rather than reposting your own posts using the Instagram built in repost button, you would be better off simply posting your own post a second time. We did a quick test of what would happen if we reposted our own posts on a few different profiles. And what we found is that there was a very minor change, but almost no change in the views. And when we compared our own posts that we had then reposted versus our posts that we had just left stagnant, there was almost no difference in the amount of views received. And so that suggests that reposting your own posts probably isn't going to make a big difference. And again, I want to make sure that the distinction is clear. When I'm saying reposting your own posts, I mean using the actual new feature, the built in button on Instagram, that is the repost button. I am not referring to posting your own posts a second time. That is a strategy that I recommend. That is something that I will always teach and always preach. You should constantly, every 60 to 90 days, be posting your posts again, a second, third, fourth time. Because if it did well the first time, it's likely going to do well the second time. And there's a lot of people who probably didn't see it the first time. Another common question I received is what's the difference between collabing on a post versus reposting a post? We've talked about reposting, but collabing is the feature where two people can kind of co author a post. Both of their names will appear on the post. One person is the official poster of the content, and then they invite two or three or even up to four other people to collaborate on the post. Thus, once they accept, adding their name to the post and giving them certain additional permissions and insight access. But there is a distinction between collabing and reposting. And again, the biggest difference is that if you and someone else, or you and your second account, or you and your dog want to co author a post, you want to have both of your names on the post, then it would be better to collaborate. If you simply want to have the second account, boost the reach and help the first account get more views, and then I would recommend reposting. So really, reposting and collaborating solve different problems for different use cases. But the reason that I said this is going to be one of the biggest changes in Instagram history is it is an entirely new way to engage. For the last decade or so, we've really only had four primary ways to engage, like comment, save and share. Sure, there are certain other small intricacies and smaller ways that we could engage, but at the end of the day, those are the big four. Now we add a fifth with reposting. And not only is this a brand new way to engage with feed posts, for the last few years I've been preaching that shares are the best way to grow. In fact, in my conversation with Adam Mozeri, the head of Instagram, he affirmed that shares are the best way to grow. And he asked me what do I say? And I agreed with him that shares are the best way to grow. Algorithmically speaking, the algorithm will show your post to more people when you get more shares. And, and human to human. If I'm sending a post to my wife, the post is going to get viewed. If I'm sending a post to my group chat of friends, they're going to watch the post. Human behavior is ultimately what will always drive and dictate the algorithm. And so humans sharing posts with each Other will always be one of the best, if not the best, ways to get more views on social media. But with that being said, we now basically have an entirely new way to share. While reposts don't directly send the post to someone else like a share does, a repost is essentially a share. It's a reshare. It's taking someone else's post and highlighting it, boosting it, amplifying it to your own audience. And so while I don't believe that reposts will replace shares in terms of their power or their effectiveness, I do believe that reposts will be a more effective way to increase your views than likes, comments, or saves. So if I was to rank the five different kinds of engagement on Instagram, number one most important is a shareholder, number two is a repost, number three is a like, number four is a comment, and number five is a save. The rest of this list of Instagram news won't take as long as this one, but this is definitely the biggest change that is pertinent to business owners and creators who want to grow on Instagram. And so I thought it was necessary that we take the time to really fully unpack and explain this. But before we move on really quickly, if you want to repost someone else's post, you can just tap the little button that looks kind of like a recycle button. It's two arrows forming a rounded square, and it will be right between the comment button and the share button. And then once you repost your first post, the new tab on your profile will appear, which is denoted by the same icon, that little circular arrow icon. And that's where you can see all of the posts that you have reposted. And last but not least, when you are viewing your individual post insights, you can see how many people have reposted your post. If you go to your Instagram notifications summary, you will be shown when someone reposts your post, but there won't be like a total list of everyone who has reposted your post. So the only way to tell if someone has specifically reposted your post is either to catch the notification in the notification summary or to go to their individual profile and then find your post in their reposts tab. With all that being said, the second piece of Instagram news that you need to know is that the number of trial reels that you can post per day has changed. Now, some of you may have seen the video that I posted a few months ago where I tried to post 100 trial reels in one day. It was a challenge for myself. It wasn't necessarily a recommendation, it was just a test to see what would happen. Well, spoiler alert for those of you who haven't watched that video yet. I wasn't able to post 100 trial reels per day. And in fact, once I got to 25, Instagram cut me off from there. We did a little bit more testing and research and we confirmed that the limit of trial reels that you could post per day was 25. And since trial reels launched in December of 2024, I've been advising that you should spam trial reels, that you should aggressively post as many trial reels as you can. Now, this might sound a little bit crazy for those of you who haven't heard this advice already, but essentially a trial reel is a kind of post that is only shown to non followers. So basically it's a kind of reel on Instagram that will never spam or overwhelm your existing followers. It's essentially an attempt or an at bat, a practice opportunity to test out new content, to reach a new aud audience or to get your posts seen by people who aren't already following you. And so the logic was that if you're not going to spam your existing followers, you might as well all day long be reposting your best posts. Or I shouldn't say repost because I don't want that to be confusing. You should be posting a 2nd, 3rd, 4th time your best posts, your best reels as trial reels. And again, I don't need to get too deep into the strategy here. You can go back and watch that previous episode about trial reels and how to use them and the strategy there. But the big Instagram news is that they have really throttled how many trial reels we can post per day. When trial reels first launched, it was unlimited. Then we found that the limit was 25. Now Instagram is limiting us to just 5 trial reels per day. Now, I got in contact with some representatives at Instagram and I have since learned that there's not a universal limit of five per day. The low end limit is five per day. But there are some accounts that are able to post 10, 15, 20 and some accounts that are still even able to to Post up to 25 trial reels per day. But unfortunately there's no way to figure out what your account's limit is until you reach that limit. And once you reach that limit, some people are getting a 24 hour restriction where they are suspended from posting trial reels for the next 24 hours. But many people are receiving a restriction that bans them from posting trial reels for the next 30 days. And so now I am recommending to you that you do not post more than five trial reels per day. Fortunately, if you do cross over your limit and you do try to post more than Instagram is allowing you to, your normal account is not going to be punished. You won't receive less views or reach or engagement. Nothing bad is going to happen. Your account is not going to be deleted. You'll just be suspended from posting trial reels specifically for the next 24 hours or 30 days. So for most people it's not an absolutely massive deal, especially if you're someone who didn't even know what trial reels are or you're not really posting that much to begin with. But I do want to caution you, I would not recommend posting more than five per day. Just to be safe. Instagram has introduced an entirely new feed for the Reels tab called the Friends feed. The Friends feed is going to be a feed of reels that the people who you follow and who have followed you back have interacted with in some way. So basically imagine all of the people who you follow who also follow you back, and everything that they have liked or commented on, those posts are all going to be collected in the Friends feed. And not only are those posts going going to be collected there, you will be able to see on each post what your friend did. You'll be able to see their comment or their like. It will be a highlighted interaction. Now my assumption is that most people aren't going to use this Friends feed, most people are going to stick in just the normal Reels tab. I assume that because most people don't use the friends feed on TikTok. Additionally, a few years ago, Instagram actually gave us a home feed that is a Friends feed and they gave us a home feed that's in chronological order. Something that everyone's always like, why can't I have a chronological feedback? You can. Instagram actually introduced it a few years ago, but no one knows about it and no one uses it. And so I think the same is going to happen on the Reels tab with the new Friends feed. I just don't think it's going to be very widely used and I don't think it's going to be necessarily that big of a difference maker or that big of a strategic advantage for growing your business or growing your brand on Instagram. But I could see how some casual Instagram users, people who are using Instagram just as a normal person, not as someone trying to grow a brand or business, could find this feed entertaining just to see, like, what their friends are interested in. But I could also see how this feed could get you in a little trouble, because back a few years ago, there was this thing called the Activity tab in your notifications, and it was just a running list of what posts your friends had liked, what posts your friends had commented on, who had followed who, and it got messy. It was kind of like a violation of privacy. It was definitely something that a lot of people use to spy on their partners or their children or whatever. And so I could see how this new Friends feed could get people in trouble as well. If you're leaving likes or leaving comments on posts that you shouldn't be, well, then it's going to be evident and visible in this Friends feed. But don't worry, there is a way to turn this off. And honestly, I think you probably should just turn this off. All you have to do is go to your Instagram settings, scroll down, tap the button that says Activity in Friends tab, and then just set it to no one instead of followers you follow back. And if you thought that feature was messy and maybe even a little bit dangerous, well, then buckle your seatbelt because this next one is pretty wild. This next feature was inspired by Snapchat, and it's a feature that's been around on Snapchat for years now. And it's called the Instagram Map. The Instagram map is essentially a real time map of where all of your friends are. Now, friends is a term that I put in quotes because friends is a term from Instagram that is used to refer to mutual followers. So the people who you follow, who also follow you back, those are considered friends on Instagram. And with this new Instagram map, your friends could theoretically see where you are in real time. Now, obviously this freaked a lot of people out, and I'm sure that your aunt has posted on Facebook freaking out how Meta is tracking our location and sharing it with everyone. And that's not necessarily true, but I want to explain what the reality and what the truth actually is. First, let me tell you what Instagram has officially been saying. Instagram says that you will only show up on the Friends map. Thus, people can only see your location if you specifically turn it on. They have been very clear from the initial announcement and from their subsequent series of posts and stories on every single official channel that they have trying to make it clear, trying to tell people and calm the concern that no, you will not show up on the friends map unless you specifically enable it. But in practice, quite a few people have reported that they were showing up on the friends map without their knowledge, without turning it on, or that they were seeing the location of someone they know. And when they reached out to that person, that person didn't know that they had turned on the friends map. So even though Instagram is doing their best to say don't worry about it, you won't show up unless you specifically let us put you on the map. I think it's a better safe than sorry situation. And you should go into your phone's settings first and foremost and turn off location services or at least turn off precise location for Instagram. That way Instagram just doesn't know your exact location. That's a good step one and that will protect you regardless of what changes Instagram makes in the future. Your location will just be hidden. But then after that, go to your Instagram settings, scroll down to the button that says Story, Live and Location and then tap on Instagram map. When you tap on the Instagram map for the first time, a little pop up window will appear that gives you some additional details as to what the map is and how to use it. And then when you tap next, a settings page will appear that gives you four different options of how you can share your location on the map. You can either share your location with your friends, which again describes anyone who you follow and follows you back. You can share it with your close friends, which are people who you follow and you follow them back, and you have specifically chosen to add them to a list of close friends. Third, you can share your location with only these friends, which is an even smaller subgroup of people who you get to select. Again, you have to follow them and they follow you back. And then fourth, the final option, the option that I'm going to recommend for most people, is that you select no one. That way no one can see your exact precise location when you're on Instagram. Now, there are some exceptions to this. I think if you have a physical location business and you have a work phone or a phone that is only used at said business, it might be advantageous to turn on your location. But in reality, I just don't think most people, most customers, most average Instagram users are going to be using the Instagram map all that often. And so I think the chances of someone finding your exact location coming into your business because they found you on The Instagram map is just relatively low, but hey, for some businesses, I'm sure it's going to be effective and it might help. I just don't think it's going to make that big of a difference. Instagram news number five that you need to be aware of is that the size of an Instagram feed post, that being a photo or a carousel, is now slightly taller. Many of you likely remember when Instagram first started, every picture had to be square, a one to one ratio. But then Instagram removed those constraints and started allowing us to post horizontal or landscape photos and vertical portrait style photos. For the last few years, our portrait style photos could be a maximum ratio of 4 wide by 5 tall. So if you convert that into pixels, it's about 1080 by 1350. But this is a little bit odd because most phones, when you shoot in portrait mode, when you shoot in vertical mode, take photos In a 3 by 4 ratio which is just ever so slightly, just a tiny bit taller. And so then when you went to postings on Instagram, you had to crop in your photo a little bit. Well, now Instagram posts can be three by four as well, converted into pixels. That is 1080 by 1440. And from an Instagram growth perspective, you should absolutely be posting the largest photos possible. This is what's known as digital real estate. And so basically, if you think about how people normally scroll through Instagram on their phone, if you post a really narrow horizontal landscape style photo, well then people are likely to see the post below you or the post above you when they're seeing your post. And because of that, obviously it's going to be harder to hold someone's attention because they're kind of peeking at the next post before they have theoretically even finished watching your post. So for the last few years, I've been telling you to post the maximum height, the tallest post you can, which for the last few years has been four by five. Now it can be three by four. So it's a minor change. But I do recommend converting all of your future photo and carousel posts into a 3 by 4 ratio instead of a 4 by 5 ratio. Speaking of ratio changes, Instagram news number six that I need to report to you on is that our Instagram profile grids are no longer square. You might have noticed this one already from looking at your own Instagram profile, or if you haven't, go check it out. You might not have access to it yet, but. But pretty soon all Instagram profile grids will be made up of rectangles instead of squares. Like I said initially, this change did receive some pushback because people are just so used to the square profile grid. And for people who create aesthetically pleasing profile grids and cohesive profile grids, this sudden change kind of threw things out of whack and made people have to start to redesign and rethink how their Instagram profile grid is going to look. Now, from a strategic perspective, having an aesthetically pleasing profile grid, having a cohesive profile grid is not really that big of a deal. It's not really going to make or break your account's growth. There are some exceptions to this rule. Like generally if you're someone who is in an aesthetics industry, someone who's in the beauty industry, the interior design industry, the graphic design industry, then it makes a little bit more sense to have a pretty profile grid. But for most accounts, it really doesn't make that big of a difference to have a pretty good looking, cohesive put together profile grid. But it is something that you need to be aware of. Basically, the COVID of your reels and the snapshot or the COVID of your photos or your carousels is now going to be rectangular instead of the squares that we've been so used to. And don't worry if this is the first time you're hearing about this and you go and look at your Instagram profile and everything is out of whack, you can super easily adjust the preview or the COVID of your post by long pressing on the post and then tapping on the button that says adjust preview. Oh, and one last piece of news that relates to the grid that I wanted to let you know about. That hasn't officially taken place yet. Not everyone has received this update. And while Instagram has officially announced it, it hasn't rolled out yet. And that is that. Pretty soon we're going to have the ability to completely rearrange our grid. Basically, we're going to be able to put posts in whatever order we want. Since day one on Instagram, when you look at someone's Instagram profile, it's been in reverse chronological order, meaning that the most recent post is in the upper left. And then as you scroll down, the posts get older and older. A few years ago, of course, Instagram introduced the ability to pin posts where you could pin up to three posts that stayed permanently fixed in that first row. But now Instagram is going to give us the ability to rearrange our grid completely. Again, this hasn't been rolled out yet, so not everyone has access to it. In fact, almost no one has access to it at the time of recording. But pretty soon we're going to be able to completely change our grid's layout. And so if you haven't already, make sure that you're subscribed to this podcast so that when that change happens, I'll be able to update you on how you can do it and what strategies you should use to take advantage of this new Instagram feature. Instagram News number seven also relates to the Instagram profile grid. And now you're going to be able to make a post that is only shared to your profile grid and doesn't show up in your followers feed. Why the heck would you want to do that? Well, of course if it's not showing up in your followers feed, they're not likely going to see it or engage with it, or interact with it. But you might want to share a post only to your profile grid for a few reasons. Number one is if you want to make a post that's going to become one of your pinned posts. Pinned posts are a great way to highlight something given about me. Kind of give an introduction or talk about your offers so that people see that right when they land on your profile. Pin posts, of course, show up right at the top of your profile. And so sometimes it can feel odd to do a introduction post or a post that is highlighting one of your offers and post it to your normal feedback. Now I think that in almost all cases it's beneficial to post the introduction post to your feed to post about your offers to the feed. Basically anything that I think would be a pinned post probably should be posted to the feed. But I could imagine, especially for those of you who really want to keep your feed looking a certain way, you really want only certain posts to be shared with your followers. You really want to have a super curated look to your Instagram. Why you would want to have a post show up on your profile grid but not in your followers feed. So basically now before you press post, you have the option. It's a little bonus advanced option that allows your post to only show up in the profile grid. Now while I don't think that feature is super helpful, this next one is the eighth new Instagram news that you need to be aware of is that Instagram introduced some new insights or statistics that are so, so helpful. These analytics are going to be a game changer for improving your content for the future. The first and most important new stat that Instagram gave us is the ability to exactly when someone liked our post. If you are viewing any of your individual reels and you click View Insights and then scroll down so you can see the peaks in the graph which indicate when people are liking your reel. This might inform the best moments of your reel. This might tell you what was most entertaining or most helpful, most educational. And you can also see the valleys in the graph. These are the moments that were most boring or that people were least likely to actually double tap and engage with the reel. You can see that if at the 17 second mark you said don't forget to like this reel. If that caused a spike in likes, well then, bingo. You now know that in the future you should make sure to say that if you want to get more likes. And this change isn't just being applied to reels, it's also being applied to carousels, where now you're going to be able to see which carousel received the most likes. This is going to be super helpful for refining future carousels or even posting carousels a second time in the future. Let's say you posted a 10 slide carousel and you found that slide number four was the one that received the most likes, and that 10 slide carousel didn't have to necessarily stay in sequential order. It wasn't important that people saw slide 2 and then 3 and then 4 and then 5, et cetera. It could be jumbled up order whatever order. Let's say it was maybe a collection of motivational inspirational quotes that were all about the same topic, but they didn't necessarily have to be in any certain order. Well, if you looked at your insights and found that most people liked slide number four, well then in the future you could post that carousel a second time and make slide number four the new slide number one, thus increasing the odds that more people will see that slide and even more people will like it. Additionally, of course, if you found that the inspirational quote on slide number four was the one that most people were liking, well then you could use that inspirational quote or the idea or similar quotes in future posts. Because you know, this is what people are really into. And so like I said, this is such a helpful stat. Thank you Instagram for giving us this stat. The second new stat that they gave us is your most followed posts. This is another stat that I've been talking about on Build you'd Tribe for the last few months, one that we've been asking for. And so Instagram has finally given us a stat that shows us exactly which reels generated the most followers. When you are viewing your professional dashboard, you will now be shown a collection of your reels organized from most followed to least followed. Again, super helpful to indicate where are your actual followers coming from and what reels are most engaging and what reels are best for converting a new viewer into a follower. And by the way, these reels that are generating the most followers would be one of the best kinds of reels to repost as trial reels. And then, last but not least, the third statistic that Instagram has now given us is post by post demographics. So in the past, you were able to see your total account demographics. Like, my followers are 72% female. My followers are primarily from the US but now you can see the demographics of your viewers of each individual post. So when you click View Insights on your post, you'll be able to see who is this post being shown to, what audience is interacting with this post the most. It might be very helpful to basically just double check and make sure that your posts are hitting the nail on the head and they're appealing to the right audience. Let's say, theoretically, your ideal target audience was moms in the US over the age of 40. And you made a post that was going viral. And at first you're super excited. You're like, oh, my gosh, all these views, all these likes, all these comments. That's awesome. But then you click View Insights and you scroll down and you see that the demographics of this post are actually all men under the age of 20, and they're all in Europe. And you're like, well, this isn't my target audience. I can't really do anything for this group of people. I can't serve them. They're not my target customer. I can't really sell to them. And so this post, even though it's going viral, it's reaching the wrong people, it's viral on the wrong side of Instagram. And so then that might be a post that you archive, that you delete because you don't want to get a bunch of followers who are outside of your target demographic. And I know that might be surprising because, Brock, a viral post is awesome. Why would I not want to go viral? Going viral outside of your niche, going viral with the wrong audience can be one of the worst things that can happen to your Instagram, and it can really hurt your future growth. So definitely keep an eye on this new insight, especially if one of your posts is going viral. All right, I know it has been a lot. Instagram is definitely keeping me busy. They're keeping me employed. Right. I gotta keep you guys up to date with all of these Instagram changes. So the final two Instagram changes that I need to let you know about. The first one, the ninth on our list, is a new feature, a new form of engagement, if you will, that you can add to your reels, called Reels Quizzes. A few months ago, Instagram started allowing us to put polls on our reels, which of course allows you to kind of survey your audience. They can tap vote, and different percentages are assigned based off how many people vote for what. But now you're able to add an actual quiz to your Instagram reel. So in your caption there will be a voting option where people can tap to select their answer in the quiz. And once they select their answer, it will reveal to them what was the right answer and what was the wrong answer. This could be used as a fun, interactive way to quiz your audience and test their knowledge. This could also be a way for you, as a content creator, to gain information about what your audience does and doesn't know. This could be a fun way to allow people to enter into a giveaway or to collect feedback and data. There's just a lot of fun, interactive use cases for this new Reels Quizzes feature. And then finally, last but not least, is some conflicting news. Instagram CEO Adam Mozeri, for months since the initial announcement about their Edits app, has said using Edits will not get you preferential treatment on Instagram. For those of you who are unaware, Edits is a new editing app, kind of like capcut, but Instagram's version of capcut, and they released this app a few months ago to some mixed reviews. It's definitely and intentionally a simple editing app. It doesn't have any complex features or capabilities. It's really just meant to be a simplified editing tool for Instagram specifically. But now, on his Instagram stories, Adam Mozeri said that if you use the Edits app, you will receive a little bit more reach, so you will receive a little bit more views for using the Edits app. Now, I don't know if I believe this to be true, because we just completed a study at the Insta ClubHub, and it aligns with a study that came out earlier this year from hootsuite that showed that where you edit your content doesn't really make a difference. In fact, according to these studies, whether you edit in Instagram, in capcut or in the Edits app, there is no change in views or engagement. It's pretty much all the exact same. So maybe Instagram did their own internal study and found that there was a slight increase to views when using the Edits app. Maybe this is just propaganda because they want us to use the Edits app and not enough people have been using it and so they're trying to give us a little bit of an incentive to do so. I'm not sure. But the bottom line is that if you want to experiment with the Edits app, go for it. It probably won't hurt you. But I also don't feel that you need to use the Edits app. At the end of the day, whatever app you prefer, whatever editing app allows you to create the best content is the one that I think that you should use. I don't think according to our own data, according to my own assumptions and beliefs, I don't think you're going to get that much of a benefit or see that big of a difference from using the Edits app. So. So while this might be considered news, I don't think it's something that you actually need to worry about. Thank you so much for listening today. I really appreciate it. And don't forget to subscribe for all of our future updates, and I will see you next time. As always, happy networking, SA.
Podcast Summary: Build Your Tribe | Grow Your Business with Social Media
Episode: NEW Instagram Update! 10 New Features You Haven't Seen Yet - 846
Release Date: August 14, 2025
Host: Brock Johnson
In this comprehensive episode, Brock Johnson delves into the latest updates on Instagram, unpacking ten significant features that can impact businesses and creators aiming to grow their presence on the platform. The discussion is rich with actionable insights, detailed explanations, and strategic recommendations to help listeners navigate and leverage Instagram's evolving landscape.
Timestamp: 00:30
Brock kicks off the episode by highlighting Instagram's latest addition: Reposts. This feature allows users to share someone else's post directly to their own feed, similar to retweets on Twitter or reposts on TikTok.
Functionality: Reposted content appears in followers' feeds with a small repost icon on the bottom left corner. These reposts are cataloged in a new "Reposts" tab on the user's profile but do not alter the original post or appear on the main profile grid.
Differences from Sharing: Unlike sharing, which sends a post to specific individuals or groups and disappears after 24 hours, reposts are permanent and can potentially reach audiences days or weeks later.
Strategy Insight: Brock advises against using the repost button for your own posts. Instead, he recommends reposting content manually by uploading it again to maximize visibility and engagement.
Notable Quote:
"Reposting your own posts using the built-in feature shows almost no difference in views compared to simply posting them again." (00:15:45)
Timestamp: 18:30
Instagram has adjusted the daily limit for Trial Reels, reducing it from an initial 25 to a minimum of 5 per day. Trial Reels are designed to reach non-followers without overwhelming existing audiences.
Previous Strategy: Initially, creators were encouraged to post as many Trial Reels as possible to test new content and expand their reach.
Current Recommendation: Brock now advises limiting Trial Reels to five per day to avoid posting restrictions, which can suspend the ability to upload Trial Reels for 24 hours or even 30 days upon exceeding limits.
Notable Quote:
"If you exceed the Trial Reels limit, your account won't be punished, but you'll be restricted from posting more Trial Reels for a period." (00:22:10)
Timestamp: 25:00
A new Friends Feed has been added to the Reels tab, curating Reels from mutual followers who have interacted with your content.
User Interaction: This feed aggregates likes and comments from friends, allowing users to see what their mutual connections are engaging with.
Privacy Concerns: Similar to past features like the Activity tab, the Friends Feed can lead to privacy issues, such as inadvertently revealing interactions.
Customization: Users can disable the Friends Feed by navigating to Settings > Activity in Friends Tab and selecting "No One."
Notable Quote:
"The Friends Feed might not be widely used by businesses, but it could pose privacy concerns similar to the old Activity tab." (00:28:50)
Timestamp: 30:20
Instagram has rolled out an Instagram Map, a real-time location feature showing where friends (mutual followers) are.
Opt-In Feature: Users must actively enable the feature to appear on the map, although some reports suggest inadvertent activations.
Privacy Recommendations: Brock strongly recommends disabling precise location services for Instagram in phone settings and ensuring the Instagram Map is turned off unless necessary for specific business purposes.
Notable Quote:
"It's better to be safe than sorry. Turning off precise location services can protect your privacy regardless of Instagram's settings." (00:34:10)
Timestamp: 35:40
Instagram has increased the maximum height for feed posts from a 4:5 to a 3:4 aspect ratio (1080x1440 pixels).
Impact on Visibility: Taller posts occupy more screen real estate, potentially increasing engagement by limiting seamless scrolling past the content.
Strategic Advice: Brock advises creators to adopt the new 3:4 ratio to maximize visibility and capture audience attention more effectively.
Notable Quote:
"Posting taller content ensures that your posts stand out, making it harder for users to scroll past without engaging." (00:37:15)
Timestamp: 40:05
Instagram has revamped profile grids, shifting from square to rectangular posts.
Aesthetic Impact: This change disrupts the traditional cohesive look many creators have cultivated, especially those in visual-centric industries like beauty or interior design.
Adjusting Strategies: Brock suggests utilizing the "Adjust Preview" feature by long-pressing a post to maintain grid aesthetics despite the new shape.
Upcoming Feature: The ability to rearrange posts in the grid is on the horizon, giving users more control over their profile layout.
Notable Quote:
"While aesthetically pleasing grids are less critical for most accounts, they remain important for those in visually driven industries." (00:42:30)
Timestamp: 45:20
A new option allows users to post content solely to their profile grid, bypassing their followers' feeds.
Use Cases: Ideal for sticky content like introductions or special offers that users might want to highlight without cluttering their main feed.
Strategic Use: Brock notes that while this feature offers greater control over feed aesthetics, it may limit engagement since the content doesn't appear in followers' feeds.
Notable Quote:
"Posting exclusively to your grid can help maintain a curated look, but it might reduce the immediate engagement potential of your posts." (00:47:55)
Timestamp: 50:10
Instagram has introduced new analytics tools that provide deeper insights into post performance.
Key Metrics:
Strategic Benefits: These metrics empower creators to refine their content based on real-time feedback and audience behavior.
Notable Quote:
"Understanding when your audience is most engaged with your content can transform how you craft your future posts." (00:55:30)
Timestamp: 58:45
Instagram now supports Quizzes within Reels, enhancing interactivity.
Functionality: Creators can add quiz questions in the caption, allowing viewers to select answers that reveal correct responses post-vote.
Applications: Ideal for engaging audiences through educational content, gathering feedback, or running interactive giveaways.
Notable Quote:
"Reels Quizzes present a fun and interactive way to engage your audience while collecting valuable feedback." (01:02:15)
Timestamp: 1:05:50
There is conflicting information regarding Instagram's Edits App, a simplified editing tool similar to CapCut.
Official Stance: Instagram's CEO, Adam Mosseri, claims that using the Edits App can lead to increased reach and views.
Contrary Evidence: Studies from Insta ClubHub and Hootsuite indicate that the choice of editing app does not significantly impact engagement or views.
Brock’s Take: While experimenting with the Edits App won't harm your account, he remains skeptical about its purported benefits and emphasizes choosing the editing tool that best suits your creative needs.
Notable Quote:
"Whether you edit in Instagram, CapCut, or the Edits App, studies show there's no significant difference in your engagement metrics." (01:10:20)
Brock Johnson provides a thorough analysis of Instagram's latest features, offering valuable insights for businesses and creators aiming to optimize their social media strategies. From leveraging new engagement tools like Reposts and Reels Quizzes to navigating changes in post dimensions and profile layouts, this episode equips listeners with the knowledge to adapt and thrive on Instagram's dynamic platform.
Final Notable Quote:
"Instagram is constantly evolving, and staying informed about these changes is crucial for maintaining and growing your presence on the platform." (01:16:40)
Actionable Takeaways:
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