Instagram is working on a “Blend” feature that will create a private feed of Reels recommendations for you and your friends. The company told TechCrunch on Friday that the feature is an internal prototype and has not been tested externally.
This feature was first discovered by reverse engineering Alessandro Paluzziregularly discovers social media features in development ahead of their official release. According to a screenshot posted by Paluzzi on his
In other words, when you invite a friend to “Blend,” Instagram generates a personalized feed of Reels that it thinks will be of interest to both of you. Blend seems somewhat similar to Spotify's feature of the same name. Launching in 2021, it will allow the two of you to combine your favorite songs into one shared playlist for her.
The screenshot shows that the blend is private between you and other users and that you can leave the blend at any time. Instagram did not provide specific details about the feature or whether Blends will be updated continuously with new recommendations or after a certain amount of time.
This feature is designed to help users discover new Reels together, allowing Instagram to increase Reel discovery and watch time. Since people are already sending Reels to each other through DMs, Instagram will use that data to proactively recommend and show Reels that it thinks paired users will enjoy.
As with other prototypes, it's unclear when or if Instagram plans to roll out this feature to the outside world.
When Blend launches, Instagram Reels users will have access to fun and collaborative features not available on rival platform TikTok. The two products are very similar, but with the introduction of “Blend,” Instagram has seen his take on TikTok, albeit on a smaller scale, given that TikTok continues to dominate the majority of the short-form video market. It may give you a slight competitive edge.