Instagram announced on Thursday the launch of its new “Blend” feature, designed to generate a customized and personalized Reels feed shared between you and your friends. The new offering, currently accessible by invitation only, allows users to create joint feeds either with a single friend or within a group chat environment. These shared feeds refresh daily to deliver fresh, curated content suited to everyone’s preferences.
This release was anticipated following earlier indications from Instagram that it was developing such a feature. With Blend, users can browse through Reels specifically selected to match each member’s interests within the group or one-on-one interactions. Additionally, when anyone within a Blend reacts to a Reel, Instagram sends notifications to encourage continued discussion and interaction through direct messages, enriching the social experience.
Instagram hopes this innovation will help users discover new content types and understand their friends’ tastes better, emphasizing a return to the platform’s original focus on peer-to-peer sharing over influencer posts and advertisements that have dominated over the past several years.
Moreover, the introduction of Blend provides Instagram with a unique advantage against its major competitor, TikTok, which currently lacks a comparable shared-viewing experience. The move underscores Instagram’s strategic aim of boosting overall engagement and increasing viewing time on its short-form video segment.
Creating a Blend involves opening a direct message conversation—either with an individual user or participants in an existing group chat—and selecting the new Blend icon positioned at the top of the chat interface. After tapping “Invite,” recipients in the chat may accept, at which point the personalized Reels feed becomes available. Users can return to view their Blend at any time by revisiting their DM conversations and selecting the Blend icon.
Instagram’s latest feature echoes Spotify’s similarly named Blend playlists, which allows users to combine musical tastes into one shared playlist updated daily. This parallel illustrates a growing trend among platforms to facilitate deeper connection and shared experiences between friends.
