‘They messed up big time’: Some Instagram users unhappy with new reposting feature

On Wednesday, Instagram users woke up to a new button on their profiles. The app’s latest update lets people repost others’ posts or Reels directly to their own feeds, but some users are unimpressed.

Here’s what we know about the new feature.

Similar to retweets on X (formerly Twitter) or reposts on TikTok, the new Instagram feature is designed to make sharing content easier. It’s been in testing since 2022, and is now rolling out to users globally.

According to a Meta news release that was shared on Wednesday, the feature is meant to make it easier “to share your interests with your friends.”

Users can now repost public posts and Reels, which will appear in a new “Reposts” tab on their profile and may also show up in their followers’ feeds.

The posts are credited to the original creator. For content creators, that means their post could be shown to someone else’s followers if they share it, even if those people don’t follow them. It’s a new way to expand their reach beyond their own audience and potentially boost engagement with minimal extra effort.

This update is part of a broader set of changes from Meta. Instagram also launched a “Friends Map”, that allows you to see where your friends are and what they are doing there (location sharing is optional), and a new “Friends” tab in Reels, where you can see public content your friends have interacted with.

Although targeted at making sharing easier, many users are not thrilled with the feature.

“They’re tryna make it like Tiktok but that’s the exact reason why so many users use instagram because they prefer it more,” one reddit user wrote. “They messed up big time.”

Others are frustrated by the design changes. The repost button now sits where the comment button used to be, leading to some accidentally sharing posts they meant to reply to.

“They put it EXACTLY where the comment button was. This is such an evil decision,” another Redditor wrote.

With another saying, “It’s so annoying, I do not want to end up filing my profile with 10 reposted reels at the end of the day because I accidentally clicked the button. At least ask for confirmation, or have it as a sub-option within the share button.”

Some have gone as far as asking if they can get rid of it all together. Time will tell if the repost button earns its place, or just more complaints.

• Minors on Instagram are routinely recommended sexual content: report
• Canadian adolescents among first to experience Instagram's new teen accounts with private settings

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.