Instagram rolls out ‘Blend’ for reels, experiments with ‘Storylines’

Instagram has introduced a new feature called 'Blend' for Reels and is experimenting with a collaborative Stories element named 'Storylines', as part of its broader efforts to enhance in-app engagement and sharing.

Launched officially last week after more than a year of development, Blend enables users to create a shared feed of recommended Reels with friends or within a group chat. The feed is generated based on each participant’s individual activity, including the Reels they watch and interact with. Once a Blend is initiated, members can access a combined Reels stream, updated in real-time based on the content they continue to share within the chat.

Instagram states the feature is designed to foster shared interests and conversations, allowing users to see which Reel was recommended for whom. When users react or comment on a Reel, notifications are triggered within the chat, further encouraging dialogue.

Blend seeks to formalise the practice of sharing Reels, currently one of the most common behaviours on the platform, by offering a streamlined and collaborative experience, in contrast to forwarding content individually.

In addition to Blend, Instagram is also working on a feature called Storylines, a collaborative extension of the Stories format. First spotted by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi, the feature would allow friends who follow each other to link new, related Stories to an existing one, creating a continuous narrative thread.

 

For example, if multiple friends attend the same event, each can contribute their own Stories to a collective stream, forming a broader multi-perspective narrative. Public contributions would be visible to other users and could potentially boost visibility and reach for participating creators. Private Storylines, while not fully viewable by non-followers, would still indicate that additional content has been linked, possibly encouraging new connections.

Instagram confirmed that interaction through Stories and DMs has become the primary mode of engagement on the platform, prompting the company to focus on tools that enhance these experiences. Instagram chief Adam Mosseri has previously highlighted increased participation and connectivity as a key priority for the app in 2025.

While Blend is now available to all users, Storylines remains in the experimental phase and has not yet entered public testing. The company has not confirmed whether Storylines will be rolled out more broadly.

 

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