Instagram starts testing new 'reposts' feature

WASHINGTON: American photo and video sharing social networking platform Instagram is testing a new feature that mimics other social networks.

According to The Verge, TechCrunch has reported that Instagram confirmed tests of a 'reposts' feature, which will bring someone else's content onto your own timeline.

This feature will be similar to Twitter's retweets or the kind of reshares that are common on Tumblr and Facebook and are also being tested on TikTok.

TechCrunch has stated that this 'repost' feature was spotted on Wednesday by Matt Navarra, a social media consultant who posted images in a Twitter thread.

Sharing someone else's post for your own followers to see isn't completely new for Instagram users.

Users have been able to share public posts for their followers but only to their Instagram Story or through direct messages.

Now, the test would let users share a post on their feeds without having to screenshot it and repost it or go through another source, reported The Verge.

Apart from reposts within your own feed, Instagram has modified its cross-platform sharing options. Now it's pushing the buttons to share to Snapchat, Messenger, or WhatsApp ahead of direct-to-DM sharing, which is, again, similar to TikTok's approach.

Instagram rolled back a test shifting the app toward an AI-powered feed of full-screen pictures and video, which is part of its apparent slow metamorphosis into TikTok, as per The Verge.