Is Instagram breaking up with “Followers” in favour of “Friends”?

Instagram appears to be quietly testing a change that, while small on the surface, could point to a much larger shift in how the platform thinks about connection, influence and visibility.

In a limited global test, some users are seeing the traditional “following” count replaced with a new label called “friends”. The definition is simple. A friend is someone who follows you back. Mutual connection rather than one way attention.

Meta has confirmed the experiment, describing it as a “small global test”. In a statement shared with Business Insider, a Meta spokesperson said the company is exploring ways to make friend connections “more visible and meaningful”, and is testing how people respond to seeing more content from those they are genuinely connected to.

It is not a confirmed rollout. But it is revealing in terms of direction.

From scale to reciprocity

For years, Instagram has been built around scale. Following counts, follower growth and visible audience size have shaped how credibility and relevance are perceived on the platform.

A “friends” count subtly challenges that dynamic.

Instead of highlighting how many people you choose to follow, Instagram is testing a metric that reflects how many people choose to follow you back. It shifts the focus from volume to reciprocity.

For users who follow thousands of accounts but receive fewer follows in return, this number could look significantly smaller. For others who have invested in tighter, more engaged communities, it may feel like a more accurate reflection of their network.

The change does not remove followers from the equation, but it reframes what is made visible and what is valued.

“Follower count has always been a convenient shortcut, not a particularly good measure of influence,” says Nathan Powell, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Fabulate. “Mutual connection is harder to inflate and harder to fake. If platforms start surfacing that more visibly, it forces a more honest conversation about who actually has influence and who just has reach.”

The direction Instagram has been signalling for years

This test does not exist in isolation. Over time, Instagram has steadily invested in features designed to prioritise real relationships over passive content consumption.

Close Friends lists, shared Reels feeds, friend surfaced content, social maps and a continued emphasis on direct messaging all suggest the same underlying ambition. Instagram wants to feel more social again.

Instagram’s leadership has previously acknowledged that despite increased usage, many users feel less connected to the people they actually care about. The “friends” test appears to be another attempt to address that tension by making meaningful connections more visible within the product.

Rather than removing creators or brands from the ecosystem, it suggests a recalibration of how social value is defined.

What this could mean for creators

If this test expands, it may prompt creators to rethink how influence is perceived.

Follower count has long acted as a proxy for authority. It is easy to understand, easy to compare and often misleading. A visible “friends” metric introduces a different signal. It suggests that mutual interest and ongoing engagement matter.

This does not mean large creators suddenly lose relevance. It does suggest that community strength and repeat interaction could become more visible alongside reach.

Creators who focus on building genuine relationships, encouraging dialogue and maintaining consistent interaction may find that these efforts carry more weight in how they are perceived, both by audiences and by platforms.

Why brands should be paying attention now

For marketers, this test reinforces a reality that has been building for some time. Platform metrics are evolving faster than many influencer buying frameworks.

If Instagram continues to prioritise signals of real connection, follower count alone becomes an increasingly blunt tool. Influence has never been just about audience size, but platform design has often encouraged brands to treat it that way.

Powell adds, “Most brands already know follower count is a weak signal, but it is still the easiest one to default to. Changes like this matter because they nudge the market away from lazy proxies and towards behaviour that actually correlates with impact. Communities that choose to stay connected tend to drive better outcomes than audiences that passively scroll.”

A friends focused lens pushes brands to ask better questions. Who consistently engages with this creator? Who chooses to stay connected over time? Who treats this content as part of their social environment rather than just another post in the feed?

These indicators are far more predictive of trust, recall and impact than follower numbers in isolation.

A signal, not a switch

Instagram has not confirmed whether the “friends” count will roll out more broadly. Meta has been clear that this is an experiment designed to observe behaviour, not a declared change to how influence is measured across the platform.

What matters is the signal beneath the test.

Social platforms are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that they still facilitate genuine connection, not just content distribution.

“Whether this test rolls out or not is almost beside the point,” Powell says. “Platforms are under pressure to prove they still create real social value. Metrics that reward genuine connection rather than surface level scale are one way of doing that.”

For creators and brands, the takeaway is not to optimise prematurely for a new metric. It is to recognise that the platforms themselves are reassessing what influence looks like.

The future of social credibility is likely to feel less like a scoreboard and more like a network. Those who invest in real connection will be better positioned if and when that shift becomes visible to everyone.

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