Topics · Signal
Sends
Contents
On Instagram, sends are shares of posts through direct messages: someone taps the arrow-shaped share button, chooses a friend or group, and the post appears in their conversation.12 Sending does not make a post visible to people who could not already see it, and creators can disable others’ ability to send their Stories and live videos through messages.134 Instagram uses sends to help choose and order content for viewers, giving them more emphasis than saves because sharing creates a social experience.56 Send rate measures total sends divided by the number of people reached, and Adam Mosseri advises creators to make content people genuinely want to send to friends without forcing that response.27 In May 2026, Mosseri recommended examining the proportion of viewers who interacted with a post—including by sending it—to understand why it reached more or fewer people, rather than focusing only on total reach.8
How sending a post works
Sending a post starts with the arrow-shaped share button beside the like and comment buttons; tapping it lets someone choose a friend or group as the recipient.1 The post appears within the conversation, where recipients can tap the photo or video to open and like the original.1 Instagram’s Direct messaging announcement describes shared posts and text appearing in the same conversation thread as disappearing photos and videos.9 Meta’s Newsroom describes a shortcut: press and hold the share button to quickly send a post to close friends.10 In September 2025, Meta’s Newsroom said messaging had become the most popular way to share photos and videos on Instagram.11
Visibility, availability and sharing controls after sending
Sending a post does not expand its original audience: Instagram says photos and videos sent through Direct remain visible only to people who could already see them.1 A shared Story becomes unavailable in the conversation when the original Story disappears from Instagram.4 A live video can be watched through a message only while the broadcast is still running; afterward, the recipient sees a message saying it has ended.3 To find Story-sharing controls, Instagram’s documented route is to open your Story, tap “…” in the lower-right corner, and then tap “Story Settings.”12 Its live-video announcement also places the option to disable sending live videos through Direct in Stories settings.3
Why sends affect which posts people see
Instagram uses sends when choosing and ordering content for viewers because, Mosseri explains, its aim is to help people connect over shared interests and creativity.25 Mosseri says Instagram gives sends more emphasis than saves because sending creates a social experience, while saving is usually something someone does alone; he also stresses that saves still matter.6 His advice to creators is to make something people genuinely want to send to a friend, without forcing that response.2
How it has changed
- 2015
September
Instagram introduced the option to send Feed posts through Direct.1
- 2017
September
Instagram expanded Direct sharing to Stories.4
December
Instagram added the ability to send your own live broadcast, or one you were watching, through Direct.3
- 2024
August
Mosseri recommended assessing sends per reach alongside views, explaining that views can include repeated viewing by one person whereas reach counts people.14
December
When announcing trial reels, which initially show a Reel to people who do not follow its creator, Mosseri recommended evaluating likes and sends relative to reach before deciding whether to share it more widely.15
- 2025
February
Mosseri advised creators to compare patterns across posts, using total likes divided by people reached to assess likability and send rate to assess shareability.7
- 2026
May
Mosseri placed sends within broader advice to examine the proportion of viewers who interacted with a post when trying to understand why it reached more or fewer people, rather than focusing only on total reach.8
See also
References
- 1Introducing Improvements to Instagram Direct
- 2When you’re creating content, think about creating something that people would want to send to a friend.
- 3New: Send a Live Video in Direct Messaging
- 4New: Share Instagram Stories in Direct
- 5Is Instagram about friends or entertainment?
- 6AMA: Why do you prioritize sends over saves in ranking?
- 7If you’re trying to optimize for reach, the metrics you should pay the most attention to are average watch time (for reels), like rate (likes per people reached) and send rate (sends per people reached).
- 8A few tips on how to read your insights, particularly engagement rates and connected versus unconnected reach.
- 9New: Updates to Instagram Direct Message
- 10Introducing New Messaging Features on Instagram
- 11In India, Instagram debuts a Reels-first experience for its mobile app
- 12#SaferInternetDay
- 13Send this to a fellow creator.
- 14We’re making an update within insights to make “Views” the primary metric for Reels, Stories, photos and carousels.
- 15We’re introducing trial reels to depressurize the experience of sharing reels and help people understand how content might perform before sharing it widely.