Instagram tests replacing ‘Following’ with a ‘Friends’ list limited to mutual followers

Instagram is testing a feature that could fundamentally change how we view our social connections on the platform, replacing the traditional “Following” tab on profiles with a new “Friends” list that only shows mutual followers.​

The feature was spotted by Nima Owji in late November, who described it as “the followers you follow back” tab. Instead of seeing your full list of accounts you follow, the profile now displays only the people who follow you back, essentially creating a curated list of two-way connections.​

It’s a small change that’s having a big emotional impact on users who’ve gained access to the test and are wondering why Instagram is showing ‘Friends’ instead of ‘Following’.

One Reddit user described the update as “honestly terrible” and “actually depressing,” noting that out of thousands of followers and follows, they only had around 100 mutuals. The realization that most of their Instagram connections were one-way relationships hit harder than expected.​

The change also creates some awkward privacy situations. Since the mutual followers list is visible on your profile, family members can now see exactly which accounts you’re mutually connected with, something that wasn’t as obvious with the previous setup.​

It’s clearly an A/B test at this point, since not all users are seeing the change yet. Some people stumbled upon it after updating their app, while others still have the traditional Following and Followers layout.​ I still don’t have the change on both Android and iOS.

This feels like Instagram borrowing from its parent company’s playbook. One X user noted that the layout now mirrors Facebook’s “Friends and Followers” structure, which has been around for years. It’s another step in Meta’s apparent strategy to blur the lines between its social platforms.

The timing is interesting, considering Instagram recently rolled out a separate Friends tab in Reels that shows content your connections have engaged with.

It seems like Meta is really pushing this “friends” terminology across the board, possibly trying to pivot Instagram back toward more intimate social connections rather than the influencer-and-celebrity-follow model that’s dominated for years.​

Whether this becomes permanent likely depends on how users react once it rolls out more widely. Based on the Reddit threads, that reception might be more complicated than Meta anticipated.

Featured image credit: @cinephileintern / X