Instagram debuts ‘blend’ to reinvent social reels
By Felicia Nwosu
Instagram has rolled out a fresh feature called “Blend” that allows users to explore a shared feed of curated Reels with friends or within group chats, reimagining how users connect through content on the app.
With Blend, instead of individually sending Reels back and forth, a habit that’s become second nature to many Instagram users, people can now access a continuously updated stream of recommended Reels tailored to the viewing habits of everyone in the chat.
The feature draws on each participant’s activity to create a joint feed that evolves as new Reels are watched, liked, or shared.
Initiating a Blend is simple: users can tap the Blend icon in any DM chat to start curating a shared experience.
Once the invite is accepted, the feed updates automatically with fresh Reels matched to the group’s combined interests. Instagram will also indicate which user a specific Reel is recommended for, adding a layer of personalization to the communal scroll.
The platform believes this new dynamic will deepen engagement and spark more organic interactions.
When someone reacts or comments on a Reel within the Blend, it prompts a notification in the chat nudging conversation around mutual interests and making content discovery a more interactive process.
Blend seems designed to leverage two of Instagram’s most powerful user behaviors, DM interactions and Reels consumption, by merging them into a single social discovery tool.
While some users might miss the intentionality of one-on-one sharing, Blend offers a more passive, yet collective, way to stay connected through content.
Whether users embrace this less curated form of sharing remains to be seen, but Instagram appears confident that Blend will drive richer, more collaborative engagement as Reels continue to dominate screen time.
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