Close Friends works because the audience changes what is worth posting. On your main story you are performing slightly for hundreds of people, most of whom you have not spoken to in years. On the green list you are talking to a room of people who know you, which means you can be specific, unfinished and boring in a good way.
That is the test for what belongs there: would you say this out loud to those people. If yes, post it without editing. If it needs styling to work, it probably belongs on the main story.
Honest updates
- The actual state of the flat right now
- What the week has really been like
- A decision you are stuck on
- Something that went badly at work
- The thing you have been avoiding for a month
- How the health stuff is going
- A boring but real financial goal
Unpolished behind the scenes
- The 40 photos before the one you posted
- The draft nobody has seen
- Your desk at its worst
- The recipe attempt that failed
- Rehearsal footage, badly lit
- The half-finished project in the garage
- Version one of the thing that is now version six
Asking for help
- Which of these two, honestly
- Recommend me something to watch, nothing sad
- Has anyone been to this place
- I need a plumber, a dentist and an opinion
- Talk me out of this purchase
- Does this email sound rude
Jokes and small chaos
- The thing your pet has just destroyed
- A screenshot of your own search history
- The item you bought at 1am
- A photo of the fridge and the words dinner ideas
- Your step count versus your intentions
- Live commentary on assembling furniture
Plans and logistics
- Who is around this weekend
- I am in town Thursday, anyone free
- Booking this for the 12th, say if you are in
- Leaving at seven, last chance
- Address and time for Saturday
- Changed the plan, here is the new one
Real life milestones
- The offer letter before you announce it publicly
- The scan photo you are not posting anywhere else
- The first day nerves
- The results, good or bad
- The keys to the new place
- Quiet news you only want a few people to know
Reactions and running jokes
- Same photo, same day, every year
- The recurring bit only this group understands
- A reply to something someone else posted
- Countdown to a thing only you all care about
- The group chat quote of the week
Recommendations for a small group
- The album you have played twelve times this week
- A restaurant you would only recommend to these people
- The book you gave up on and why
- A cheap thing that fixed a daily annoyance
- The show you are three seasons into and cannot defend
How to pick one
Post the thing you would not post publicly. That is the only real rule, and Close Friends stops being useful the moment it becomes a second main story with the same polished content. Keep the list actually small, because a green circle shared with 300 people is not a private audience and people notice when it stops feeling personal. Use it for the middle of things: the drafts, the decisions, the mess. Ask questions freely here, since replies come from people you want to hear from and answering them is the point. And do not use it as a marketing channel if you run a business account, because putting offers behind a friendship signal is the fastest way to get muted. The content pillar generator is a useful way to separate the themes that belong on the public account from the ones that belong on the green list. For working out what your public stories should carry instead, the Instagram post ideas generator is a decent prompt list.