It’s likely that you enjoy uploading photos of your visually appealing, TikTok-accepting iced coffee to your Instagram Story as well. But what if you have some Instagram followers who you believe might be a little critical of your content?
You know, the kind who might use the word “cheugy” a little bit too casually. If so, you might wish to use Instagram’s Close Friends function, which debuted in 2018, and is indicated by a “green circle.”
In essence, using the “Close Friends” function is like using Finsta for Instagram Stories without having to deal with the trouble of creating a new account.
When you share your Story with Close Friends only, you can choose the people you want to have access to it, and from that point forward, they’ll be the only ones to see it.
Creating a list of Close Friends does not prevent you from sharing with your bigger follower base.
You simply get the best of both worlds and as the globe starts to open up again, you can stop soft-blocking that one friend who thinks you give too many updates about all the vacations you’re planning.
What does the Green Circle on Instagram mean?
It indicates that you have been added to someone’s list of close friends when you see a green circle on their Instagram story.
You will therefore receive content that is intended for you and a select group of people only and that you are not required to share with anyone else.
Being added to someone’s list of close friends is uncommon since, as the tag “close friends” implies, you must be pretty close to the individual.
You are free to post anything you wish for your closest friends to see because the circle designates it as private.
This might be a reminiscence from your youth, a secret, bothersome ideas, or simply keeping them informed about your day-to-day activities.
You merely need to take a picture or choose a media kind, then upload it for your “close pals,” according to the service.
What are Instagram Stories?
If you regularly use social media sites, you are aware that individuals enjoy sharing both public and private stories.
Simply put, Instagram Stories are a tool that lets users share content, videos, fresh photos, and pretty much anything else they want with other users.
Unlike Instagram’s main feed, all stories are only meant to be seen for a short while before being automatically removed from a user’s profile.
Everyone knows that Instagram stole the concept for its Stories Section from rival Snapchat back in 2016, thus most of us are already aware of it.
How to get a green circle on Instagram?
You must include folks in your “close friends” list and share a story with them in order to receive the green circle on Instagram.
A green circle will appear around your profile once you’ve shared a story with your list of close friends.
If you’ve shared a story on Instagram with your close friends list, a green circle will be shown around your profile.
You can use the close friends list to keep some people from seeing your stories without muzzling or barring them.
Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to add users to your Instagram list of close friends:
- Go to Instagram’s home page and click the camera symbol in the upper-left corner of the display.
- The “Your Story” symbol has a “Close Friends” button next to it.
- After selecting “Add to the list,” select “Get Started.”
- By selecting the “Add” button, you can locate and choose the users you want to add.
- After adding the individuals you want to include, tap “Close Friends” to share the story with your list of close friends.
In the future, all you have to do to share a story with someone on your close friends list is tap on the green star icon next to the “Your Story” icon.
Following that, your profile will have a green circle around it and only your close friends will be able to see it. Your list of close pals is editable whenever you like (e.g. add, remove).
They will not receive any notifications when you add someone to your list of close friends.
In the same way, if you take someone off the list, your followers won’t get a notification.
Does Instagram send a notification when you screenshot a Close Friend Story?
Perhaps you weren’t intending to do it. Perhaps you simply couldn’t help but share the update that your ex-boyfriend had written before he remembered to take you off the list of selected Close Friends.
There is no condemnation here, but if you find yourself spiraling, know that, like the other Instagram Stories, no screenshot notification is sent out by Instagram when someone copies a Close Friends story.
A “Close Friends” Instagram story, however, cannot be forwarded to another account. Great privilege entails even greater accountability.
No one will be able to see who is and isn’t on your list, and they also won’t be informed if the list is altered in any way, so while the Close Friends function does add another level of complexity to the realm of social media etiquette, at least this one is silent. A huge relief.
How to remove someone from your Close Friends?
Fortunately, whether you add or remove someone from your list of “close friends,” Instagram doesn’t let your followers know.
As a result, you can easily and hassle-free remove or add someone. Therefore, take these actions.
- Visit your profile page and select the menu (three horizontal lines) at the top right.
- Select “Close friends” by tapping it.
- You can delete a user by clicking on them.
- Select Done.
You can do this to add or remove people from your list of close friends.
What do other colors mean on Instagram?
You now understand that the green circle indicator on Instagram indicates that someone has added you to their list of close friends.
But in order to avoid confusion, you must also learn the colors of other tiny circles.
| Classic Red Story Color | The color of the red circle is more akin to “magenta.” There is nothing unique about this circle; it simply indicates that you are watching a standard Instagram Story. |
| Rainbow Circle On Instagram | On Instagram, there are rainbow stickers to mark Pride Month. The tale will be colored “rainbow” if someone hits this sticker during pride month. |
| Orange and Green Ring | This orange, green, and blue circle denote National Hispanic Heritage Month, not the Close Friends list. As a result, your pals celebrated this month in their stories by using a sticker or tag. |
| Gray Instagram Stories | Gray stories simply indicate that you have seen all of a friend’s stories. The circle won’t be grey if they produce a new story until you tap and really view it. |
Conclusion
- Particularly for novice users, colors on Instagram stories, like the green ring/circle, can be very perplexing.
- You now understand the significance of Instagram’s green circle.
- Additionally, you now know what the five distinct colored rings and circles around Instagram stories imply and how to obtain them.
- Simply put, the green circle on Instagram indicates that someone has added you to their list of close friends and has most recently updated it with a story.
- The green ring/circle surrounding someone’s tale indicates that they have added you to their close friends list even though you won’t receive a notification when they do so.