Instagram Redefines 'Friends' As Only Those Who Endure Mutual Stalking

KEY POINTS

•Instagram is testing a new profile count called 'friends,' which tracks only mutual followers worldwide as of early 2026.
•Meta spokesperson said this move aims to highlight real connections and show more content from these mutual followers.
•CEO Adam Mosseri expressed a desire for Instagram to help users engage meaningfully with the people they care about.

In a dazzling move to expose our social-client filter bubbles, Meta’s Instagram is quietly experimenting with replacing 'following' counts with 'friends' counts—defining friends strictly as those who follow you back. This 'small global test' announced by a Meta spokesperson, and reported by Business Insider in early 2026, means if you follow a thousand people but only a few hundred tolerate your content, your profile will remind you daily of your reciprocal rejection. Meanwhile, Instagram’s top honcho Adam Mosseri, bless his heart, insists the platform should help users actually engage with people they 'care about,' while rolling out features like Blend and social mapping to cement your anxiety that maybe your so-called friends are just algorithmic flukes. Sure, the name 'friends' fits better than 'followers,' since we’re all just terrible drivers of our own social lives.