Instagram is testing native reposting, among a slew of other features

Image: mashable/lili sams

Instagram is testing new features that could dramatically change what your feed looks like.

As first reported by The Verge, the company is looking to introduce native reposting, which will allow users to share posts from other accounts to your own feed.

The “seamless sharing” feature, as it’s known internally, will introduce a “share to feed” button when you open the “…” menu in the top right corner of a post. Currently, users need to use a third-party app to repost.

It’s a feature that has long been the subject of rumours, but the company has been reluctant on rolling out the feature which has long been a mainstay of Twitter and Facebook. In June, the platform rolled out story sharing, which allows users to repost stories that they’re tagged in.

Mike Krieger, Instagram’s co-founder, noted to Bloomberg earlier this year that sharing might not go down well with users.

“It would make people feel like the content in their feed was not what they had chosen,” he told the publication.

Allowing a quick way to repost natively could be problematic, as we’ve seen with Facebook and Twitter’s efforts to quell fake news and influence campaigns, which can quickly spread on those networks. 

Instagram is a sanctuary from that kind of content, but it might not be for long.

Instagram’s also sorting out hashtag cramming

Aside from native reposting, Instagram is also reportedly testing other features including separating hashtags from captions, geofenced sharing, quiz stickers, and stories highlight stickers, according to TechCrunch.

The separation of hashtags from captions could be the panacea to the annoying glut of hashtags (like #picoftheday and #instagood), often cluttered at the bottom of a post.

Spotted by Jane Manchun Wong inside Instagram’s Android app, a separate button called “Add Hashtags” will appear on the New Post screen, which will allow users to use hashtags without including them in the caption. 

Also discovered by Wong is the ability to choose which locations can see your post or story, where you can select or omit specific countries as you wish.

Finally, another find by Wong is the ability to share other accounts’ Stories Highlights as a sticker in your own story. 

Also found by Twitter user @WABetaInfo is the introduction of quiz stickers to stories, which gives your followers three options to choose from.

Mashable has contacted Instagram for further comment.