Unlike other social media apps, Instagram has never offered a simple way to share other people’s content by reposting it.
That could soon change, however, as Instagram is about to start testing such a feature with a small group of users, according to TechCrunch.
Instagram’s repost feature was thrust into the spotlight on Thursday by social media consultant Matt Navarra and later confirmed by Meta, Instagram’s parent company.
“We’re exploring the ability to reshare posts in Feed — similar to how you can reshare in Stories — so people can share what resonates with them, and so original creators are credited for their work,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch. “We plan to test this soon with a small number of people.”
Navarra tweeted a screenshot (below) showing a repost tab on the profile page of Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri’s account. Tap on it and it will likely show you all of the posts that Mosseri has shared.
The actual action of reposting could be enabled by a button alongside each post in a user’s feed, though prominent leaker Alessandro Paluzzi recently suggested that the button may be hidden away in the share option.
As this is a test, there’s no guarantee that Instagram’s repost feature will become a permanent part of the app. After recently upsetting a lot of users with unwelcome changes that made it look like a TikTok wannabe, it’s likely that the company will move slowly with this feature until it can properly gauge its popularity.
Currently, the only easy way to share other people’s content on Instagram is by taking a screenshot and posting it, or by downloading a third-party app that lets you repost.
A popular one for iPhone is Repost: For Instagram, which currently has 4.8/5 stars from more than 163,000 ratings. Android users can try Repost for Instagram, which has 4.6/5 stars from more than half a million ratings and more than 10 million downloads.
