Instagram has launched two shiny new features in its latest update — the Repost button and the Map feature, that has got everyone talking about it. The brand new features have already sparked excitement, curiosity, and engagement from users and creators, but a hint of controversy and criticism lingers in the air. On the surface, both features seem cool and useful add-ons. But, dig a little deeper, and you'll find heated conversations on originality, safety, and whether Instagram is becoming just a mash-up of every social media app to ever exist.

What's New?

1. The Repost Button

This feature lets you share someone else's post directly to your profile. You can think of it as giving the spotlight to someone else's content and still giving credit in the process. It's an easy way to spread love to the kind of content you like and curate your feed without screenshotting, cropping, saving, or awkward tagging or commenting. You can also see what your friends repost and vice versa, and share and exchange interests with your mutuals and your audience (if you have a public account/or are a creator).

2. The Map Feature

This is a visual, interactive feature where a map shows the location of your recent posts, tagged posts, and public places your friends might've posted from. It's a reboot of Snapchat's Snap Map, which allows you to zoom in, explore, and even discover content and creators who have posted from the places tied.

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Instagram Or A Well-Curated Mash-up?

When Instagram first launched, it was known for its originality — the clean photo grid, quirky filters, and later, cool additions like Notes in DM's and even the feature to add music to notes so users could share their music taste and thoughts. But over the past few years, Instagram's updates seem to look like a bridge made up of borrowed ideas from its competitors, and with very little to no originality left.

Image Credit: Benyamin Bohlouli on Unsplash

If you want people to know the kind of content you like without leaving your profile, that's Repost. Want to know where everyone's hanging out without Snap Map? Now, Instagram Maps.

Want disappearing messages but don't have Snapchat? There's Vanish mode, even disappearing messages. Want short, entertaining videos? There's Reels. And if you want TikTok's 'For You Page' with trending audios and hashtags, there's Explore. Even the Stories you scroll past daily, which disappear 24 hours later, were Instagram's way of taking a page straight out of Snapchat's book. Slowly and bit by bit, Instagram used its original features, like the photo grid, which made it famous, along with ideas from rival companies, and created an app so polished that it made it almost impossible for users to leave or engage with other social media apps. Amidst all criticism, comparison, and opinions, we're not paying attention to the pressing issue at hand—the Maps feature.

Instagram Maps: Friend Or Foe?

So what is the real deal about this feature? Meta, in one of their recent blogpost said— "You can also open the map to see content your friends and favorite creators are posting from interesting or fun locations. No matter how you use the map, you and your friends have a new, lightweight way to connect with each other."

Privacy Panic: Why Everyone's Concerned

Location being shared without consent?

Despite Meta's claims that sharing location through the new Maps feature is completely optional and in the user's control, multiple users have claimed that they've found themselves on the map without ever turning it on.

"Mine was set to on and shared with everyone in the app,” a user said in a Threads post. “My location settings on my phone for IG were set to never. So it was not automatically turned off for me."

Users' Safety on the Line

Many users are scared that their private lives and sensitive information, like their location, if shared publicly, puts their safety at a major risk. Women are alarmed. The map has the ability to share one's last-known location up to an hour.

This could risk potential stalking, harassment, or abuse— not just for women, but for teenagers, new and young users, and could also be used to target vulnerable groups who are already at risk. Stories of women being followed, filmed secretly, and harassed, even in broad daylight, highlight the real danger lurking, and features like these only give more opportunities for people looking to exploit them.

Potential for Digital Surveillance

Some users warn that even trusted followers, mutuals, or friends-of-friends may expose their location by simply taking a screenshot and sharing it. Others also noted that the map can be used to zoom down to a street-level accuracy of one's location, and some fear that this terrifying level of accuracy by this feature can be used in multiple dangerous ways, directly opening a door for stalkers and abusers to track down people anytime they please to do so.

Image Credit: Ron Lach on Pexels

What You Must Do to Protect Yourself

1. Check your settings right away: Make sure Maps is turned off—both within Instagram and your device permissions.

2. Limit your share circle: If you do ever want to try this feature or opt for it, restrict it to only your closest, most trusted contacts, and preferably no one else. Remember to choose carefully the kind of people you share your location with, and make sure they can be trusted and that they value your privacy.

3. Keep it minimal: Don't geo-tag sensitive posts or frequently visited spots(workplace, home, school)

4. Talk and explain: Educate the young users, friends, and family who use Instagram, and make sure they know and understand that a feature isn't worth risking safety.

Image Credit: Jason Dent on Unsplash

My Take on This:

The Repost feature seems pretty harmless and engaging, but the Maps feature, however, seeks caution. Social media apps, especially ones with heavy engagement and usage, like Instagram, should keep in mind that every step taken concerns their millions of users. And if not dealt with carefully, sensitive data like real-time location can fall into the wrong hands, and the consequences can be unimaginable.

Meta should take responsibility and make sure they keep the said data safe and private. And if you fear for your safety as well, you're not alone, and you're not being paranoid. In today's generation, online safety is just as important, and with the ease of live location shared publicly, safety is at risk. Take all necessary precautions, or deactivate or delete the Instagram app from your device if you still feel the need to for a while, or till there is an official announcement from Meta themselves. Safety triumphs missing a few posts or your daily dose of scrolling reels. Stay safe!