As the TikTok ban grows, Instagram Reels introduces a new way to interact with friends

If you’ve recently double-tapped your Instagram Reel, your friends might be able to see it, thanks to a new Instagram update. Instagram rolls introduces a new friends tab that shows you all the videos your friends have liked and engaged with, the company announced Friday. The new feature is rolling out starting today for US users.

This will differ from your friends tab in Reels, which shows you all the videos made and posted by the accounts you follow. It’s more reminiscent of TikTok’s algorithm, which will weave videos your friends DM you into your page for you.

You can view this separate Reels feed by tapping a new pill-shaped widget in the top right corner – showing a few of your friends’ profile pictures – and the new special feed will open. You can also reply to these videos or start DMs with friends from there. Don’t worry if you don’t see the option yet – new features may take some time to roll out.

Read more: New Teen Instagram Accounts: What Parents and Kids Need to Know

The update follows a tumultuous start to the year for Meta. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would be is ending its third-party fact-checking program across all its platforms and a major overhaul of content moderation. The proposed changes to the content moderation policy include loosening restrictions on how users can talk about gender identity and immigration, in what Zuckerberg called a return to the company’s “free expression roots.”

Fact-checking groups and LGBTQ+ advocates worry about what this means for the quality and safety of information on the platforms.

The new feature also comes on the same day as The US Supreme Court upheld the law this would effectively ban TikTok if it does not sell its US business by January 19 to a new buyer approved by US authorities. President Joe Biden has indicated he will not enforce the ban in the final few hours of his presidency, and President-elect Donald Trump, who is sworn in on Monday, has said he is interested in finding a political solution.

But the decision casts a lot of uncertainty over the future of video-based social media for TikTok’s more than 170 million active US users, some of whom may want to migrate to Instagram Reels or other alternative sites.