Having close friends on social media platforms like Instagram can be great for sharing updates, photos, and messages with your inner circle. However, your close friends list is not set in stone – you can add and remove people as your relationships change over time. Here’s what you need to know about managing your Instagram close friends list.
What are Close Friends on Instagram?
Instagram’s Close Friends feature allows you to share Stories with a smaller, selected group of followers instead of your entire follower base. When you share a Story with Close Friends, it will have a green ring around your profile photo instead of the usual pink ring for standard Stories.
Only the followers you have designated as Close Friends will be able to view these Stories. It provides a way to easily share more personal or intimate updates with your inner circle without worrying about who else might see them.
How to Add Someone to Your Close Friends
Adding someone to your Close Friends list is easy and can be done right from the Stories composer screen:
- Tap the camera icon to open the Stories composer.
- At the bottom, tap “Close Friends” to open your list.
- Tap “Add” at the top.
- Search for and select the username of the person you want to add.
- Tap “Add” to confirm.
You can also add new Close Friends while viewing your list. Simply tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right and choose “Add Close Friends.”
How to Remove Someone from Close Friends
It’s just as easy to remove someone from your Close Friends list when needed:
- Open the Stories composer and tap “Close Friends.”
- Tap the three-dot menu next to the person’s name.
- Select “Remove” to take them off your list.
Removing them prevents that person from seeing any future Close Friends Stories you share. However, they will still have access to Close Friends Stories they could previously view.
Limits to Close Friends
You can have up to 150 people on your Close Friends list at one time. If you try to add someone new and are already at the limit, you will need to remove someone first.
Instagram also has limits on how many people you can add or remove from Close Friends within a certain timeframe. Typically you will be able to change up to 50 Close Friends every day.
Close Friends vs. Best Friends
Close Friends is not the same as Best Friends on Instagram. Best Friends is an algorithm-based status that shows you frequently interact with certain people in Direct Messages.
You don’t manually control who shows up as your Best Friends, whereas Close Friends is a curated list you choose. People on your Close Friends list will also appear at the top of your Best Friends if you chat with them regularly.
| Close Friends | Best Friends |
|---|---|
| Manually selected list for sharing Stories | Algorithmically generated based on DM frequency |
| Up to 150 people | No limit |
| Visible when sharing Stories | Visible in your DM inbox |
Seeing Who Views Your Close Friends Stories
When you share a Close Friends Story, you can see which of your Close Friends have viewed it by swiping up on the Story.
This viewer list only shows your Close Friends and does not include any standard followers. You can tap on individual viewers to pull up a message composer to reply directly.
Stories Hidden from Close Friends
If you notice one of your Close Friends is missing from the viewer list on your Stories, there are a few possible reasons:
- They may have muted your Stories for a period of time. Muted Stories do not show view status.
- They may have blocked you, preventing them from viewing any of your content.
- Your account may be shadowbanned, limiting visibility of your Stories.
- It may simply be a delay in data syncing on Instagram’s end.
Troubleshooting Close Friends Issues
Here are some troubleshooting tips for common Close Friends problems:
Can’t add someone to Close Friends
- Make sure you have not reached the limit of 150 Close Friends already.
- Check that you entered their exact username correctly.
- They may have blocked you or restricted their account privacy settings.
Removed user still seeing Close Friends Stories
- Give it some time. It can take a few hours for changes to sync across Instagram’s servers.
- Make sure you tapped “Remove” on the confirmation prompt.
- Try restarting the Instagram app to force a refresh.
Close Friends appearing out of order
- The list shows Close Friends in order of when they last viewed your Story.
- Tap “Customize” to manually rearrange your list as desired.
Number of Close Friends inaccurate
- The number shown includes both your current Close Friends plus pending requests you’ve sent.
- Check your pending requests and withdraw any you no longer want.
- The number should update after any pending requests are accepted.
Conclusion
Being able to share Close Friends Stories on Instagram provides an easy way to show a different side of yourself with your inner circle. Take advantage of the flexibility to add and remove people as needed so your list stays up to date.
With the ability to see who’s viewing your Close Friends Stories, you can also gauge engagement and reactions from your nearest and dearest followers. Use the troubleshooting tips outlined here to smooth over any hiccups connecting with your Close Friends.