Meta has done it again. From Snapchat-inspired Stories to TikTok-style Reels, Instagram has long walked the tightrope between evolution and imitation. On August 6, 2025, the social media giant rolled out three significant Instagram updates that have users asking one burning question: “Haven’t we seen this before?” The new features, i.e. Reposts, Instagram Map and a Friends tab in Reels, promise enhanced connection and discoverability, but they’ve also reignited the familiar TikTok vs Instagram conversation.
As a leading digital marketing agency in Ahmedabad, we’re taking you on a deep dive into what these updates mean for brands, creators and everyday users navigating Instagram’s ever-evolving landscape. Oh, and asking the bigger question: is this really innovation or just Instagram playing follow the cooler kid?
Table of Contents
- What Are Instagram’s New Features?
- Why It Feels Familiar: The Platform Copying Phenomenon
- The Strategic Wins for Brands and Marketers
- The Potential Drawbacks: Algorithm Changes and Feed Disruption
- Is Instagram Losing Its Original Identity?
- What This Means for Brands and Creators
- Final Thoughts: Innovation vs. Imitation
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Are Instagram’s New Features?
The 3 major updates, besides minor bug fixes (as they have claimed to fix), are as follows:
Instagram Repost: Sharing Directly on Timeline
The most talked-about update allows users to repost public Reels and feed posts directly to their main profile grid, not just Stories. Reposts are credited to the original poster and appear in followers’ feeds, with a separate tab on your profile for easy revisiting. The feature includes an option to add personal notes to your Reposts, making shared content feel more authentic.
Instagram Map: Location-Based Social Discovery
The Instagram Map lets you opt in to sharing your last active location with selected friends and explore location-based content from people you follow. Think Snapchat’s Snap Map, but with Instagram’s signature polish. Privacy controls allow you to choose who sees your location, from all friends to selected individuals. And you can turn it off completely anytime.
Instagram Maps has been rolled out in the United States, and in the coming days, it will be made available to other countries too.
Friends Tab in Reels: Stalk See What Your Friends Are Watching!
The new Friends tab in Reels shows public content your friends have interacted with, plus recommendations from Blends you’ve started. It’s designed to help you discover what your network is engaging with and spark conversations around shared interests.
Among these three updates, Reposts has generated the most buzz—and controversy. The feature transforms how content travels across the platform, moving beyond temporary Story shares to permanent grid visibility.
Why it feels familiar: The TikTok connection
If these features feel like déjà vu, you’re not imagining it. TikTok launched its repost feature in late 2021, while Snapchat pioneered location sharing with Snap Map years ago. Instagram’s approach to feature development has long involved observing what works elsewhere and adapting it for its ecosystem.
This isn’t Instagram’s first rodeo with “inspired” features:
- Stories (2016) – borrowed from Snapchat
- Reels (2020) – Rival for TikTok’s short videos
- Broadcast Channels (2023) – Telegram’s influence
- Reposts (2025) – TikTok’s sharing mechanism
The TikTok vs Instagram debate intensifies with each borrowed feature, as users question whether Meta is innovating or simply playing catch-up in an increasingly competitive social media landscape. The main reason behind this major backlash is its ‘Non-originality’. Instagram’s Repost button does not reinvent the wheel; it simply relocates it.
View this post on Instagram
The Strategic Wins for Brands and Marketers
From the perspective of a social media marketing agency in Ahmedabad, these updates present compelling opportunities:
Enhanced Social Proof
Brands can now showcase user-generated content (UGC) directly on their main feed without third-party tools. When content gets reposted, it may be recommended to the reposter’s followers, even if they don’t follow the original creator. This creates powerful organic reach multiplication.
Content Amplification Strategy
The repost feature essentially turns every follower into a potential brand ambassador. Quality content now has multiple pathways to reach new audiences, extending far beyond traditional sharing methods.
Location-Based Marketing
Instagram Map opens new possibilities for location-based campaigns, especially for businesses with physical presence in Ahmedabad or other key markets. Restaurants, events, and retail stores can leverage location tagging more strategically.
Community Building
The Friends tab in Reels creates opportunities for brands to understand what content resonates with their audience’s networks, informing future content strategy.
The Potential Drawbacks: Algorithm Changes and Feed Disruption
- Feed Saturation: The risk of seeing the same content multiple times through different reposters could lead to user fatigue and reduced engagement rates.
- Original Content Visibility: As reposts compete for feed space, original creators might find their content buried under shared posts, potentially affecting reach and engagement.
- Algorithm Confusion: Instagram’s recommendation system must now distinguish between original content performance and repost popularity, which could impact how content gets distributed.
Creator Economy Impact: While reposts can increase reach, they might also dilute the value of original content creation if sharing becomes more rewarding than creating.
Is Instagram Losing Its Original Identity?
This question strikes at the heart of user frustration. Instagram began as a simple photo-sharing app focused on visual storytelling and creative expression. Today’s Instagram is a multi-faceted platform juggling:
- Photo and video content
- Shopping features
- Messaging capabilities
- Stories and Reels
- Now Reposts and location sharing
Each borrowed feature chips away at what made Instagram unique. The platform that once prided itself on curated, original content is now embracing the viral, share-heavy culture of TikTok and other platforms.
The identity crisis is real: Is Instagram becoming an “everything app” at the expense of its core values?
What This Means for Brands and Creators
For Creators:
- Opportunity: Increased reach potential through reposts
- Challenge: Standing out in an increasingly crowded, repost-heavy feed
- Strategy: Focus on highly shareable, visually striking content that encourages reposts
For Brands:
-
- Leverage: Use reposts to amplify successful campaigns and UGC
- Adapt: Develop repost-friendly content that maintains brand message integrity when shared
- Monitor: Track how reposted content performs compared to original posts
For Marketers: Especially for agencies managing multiple clients, understanding repost dynamics becomes crucial for campaign measurement and strategy adjustment.
Final Thoughts
One must imagine Sisyphus forcing his mutuals to hit the repost button on every post of his client. Meta’s latest Instagram updates represent a calculated move to retain users in an increasingly fragmented social media ecosystem. While the features themselves aren’t groundbreaking, their integration into Instagram’s existing framework could create new engagement patterns and content distribution methods.
For businesses working with a digital marketing agency or managing their social media in-house, these updates demand strategic thinking. The question isn’t whether Instagram is copying competitors; it clearly is. The real question is how quickly brands and creators can adapt these new tools to their advantage.
One thing remains certain: in the rapid-fire world of social media, adaptation isn’t optional; it’s survival.
FAQs
The founder and partner of Flora Fountain, Shefali leads the Content and Technology divisions. A one-time engineer who started her career writing front-end code, she took a detour sometime during her 9 years in New York, studied journalism and started writing prose, poetry and sometimes jokes. She now has 15...