Instagram glitch adds Reels thumbnails to every comment

If you’ve been scrolling through Instagram Reels today, you might have noticed something strange and a bit cluttered in the comments. A weird glitch appears to be causing the thumbnail of the Reel you’re watching to show up under every single comment. This is making the comment section a chore to navigate, as each comment is now accompanied by a static image of the video above.

Some users who are experiencing the issue have taken to Reddit and X to share screen recordings. You can check out two such recordings below.

Posted on Reddit:

Posts from the instagram
community on Reddit

Posted on X:

@instagram who the fuck asked for the thumbnail under every fucking comment pic.twitter.com/1x0Tpx9176

— Tyrant Lemon (@TyrantLemon) October 3, 2025

Many are finding that the repeated thumbnails are a complete waste of screen space, making the simple act of reading comments a frustrating experience filled with endless scrolling. Some have described the new look as “atrocious” and “utter garbage,” with one user saying it looks like a “knock-off Instagram app.”

I’ve seen a lot of people online assume this might be a bizarre new feature that Instagram is testing. Personally, I highly doubt that. It seems much more like an unintended bug has cropped up, causing this visual chaos. The repetition serves no practical purpose, and as one user pointed out, “Why do I need a reminder of what I just watched when I try and read comments.” The consensus is clear: if this is a feature, it’s a terrible one.

Interestingly, the bug doesn’t seem to be affecting everyone. I tried to reproduce it on my own devices, but the glitch wasn’t present on either the Android or iOS versions of the app. Here’s a screenshot I took for reference:

This could mean it’s a server-side issue affecting a specific batch of users, or perhaps a limited test that has gone horribly wrong.

That said, this isn’t even that big of an issue compared to what many other Instagram users are dealing with. Earlier today, we highlighted complaints that the Instagram app keeps crashing within seconds of opening it.

We stand out from the tech-media crowd because we break news stories; we mainly bring you stuff that you won’t find anywhere in the mainstream tech media. Our stories have been picked up by some of the world’s most popular websites and media outlets—more info is available here.