Instagram is working on a new feature—or rather, a “new old” feature we saw on Snapchat: Snap Maps. Instagram’s version of Snap Maps will reportedly be called Friend Map, but it seems to be quite similar to Snapchat’s feature.
Christine Pai, a spokesperson for Meta, confirmed that the feature is currently being tested with a “specific group of people,” so it appears to be a limited test for now. She did not name a region or country where the feature is being tested. It was first spotted in February, but at the time, information about it was sparse.
Currently, Instagram's Friend Map only allows you to share your location and text/video updates with mutual followers or your close friends list. You can't share your location and updates with everyone (and you probably shouldn't, just as a side note).
Over a decade ago, Instagram offered a feature that displayed your posts on a map. But that map was private and unsharable. And no one was using it, so Instagram removed it.
Currently, it's not clear if Instagram's Friend Map will be available to everyone. Meta usually spends quite a bit of time testing features (which is great, we don't want any bugs from rushing features), so for now we'll have to wait.
Snapchat's Snap Maps feature lets other Snapchat users see you on a map and share your location and Snaps according to your privacy settings.
It's great that Instagram is looking for ways to make itself more attractive to users. Personally, I don't think this feature is the biggest innovation, but I think some people might find it funny. I would prefer an iPad app for Instagram, though, but right now Meta seems to think otherwise.