Over the years CFS has emerged as one of the most popular slangs on Instagram. Thousands of diehard Instagram users use this acronym almost on daily basis, indicating its growing popularity. But what does CFS mean on Instagram. What does this acronym stand for and why it is so popular among the users. We will decode every important aspect of this popular phrase in this latest blog post.
CFS basically stands for Close Friends Story. It was launched in 2018 as a privacy feature, giving users more control over who can view their stories. This means unlike regular Instagram stories, CFS stories are not visible to all followers. Rather it is visible to only those followers who have been added to the user’s close friends list.
Why is CFS so popular among Instagram users?
The simple reason for its ever-growing popularity is that it offers much needed privacy. With cybercrime and online abuse becoming rampant, privacy has become the buzzword among social media users. Today almost all social media users including Instagram users strongly desire to have their own private space where they can share their intimate and candid moments with selected close friends.
A great privacy feature like CFS also helps in segregating your personal life and professional life. It is not very surprising that many Instagram users want to hide their casual or personal posts from their clients, co-employees or managers.
While the increase in online abuse may have necessitated the need for this feature but desire for privacy is very innate and inherent among human beings. And Close Friends Story or CSF caters to this very essential desire, which partially explains why it is so popular among Instagram users.
What kind of stories qualify for CFS?
Now that you know what does CFS mean on Instagram, let us find out what kind of stories can be added it.
While privacy is a subjective issue, it is no brainer that certain stories or information can only be shared with our closest friends and such stories should obviously use the Close Friends Story feature to hide their private moments from public view.
Important life moments: Certain life-turning moments initially can only be shared with people whom we blindly trust, while we wait for appropriate time to share the information with rest of the world. For instance, when most women come to know the good news about their pregnancy, at first they are too hesitant to break the news to their acquaintances and prefer to share only with their close friends and relatives.
Personal introspection and deepest thoughts: Moreoften than not we don’t like sharing our deepest emotions or philosophical thoughts with everyone. We tend to share these intimate and heartfelt thoughts only with those people with whom we feel connected and comfortable. Such soul-searching thoughts overwhelm our mind mostly when we go through a life changing phase like a heartbreak or a heavy slump in professional career.
Embarrassing stories: Without an exception, we all go through embarrassing moments and most often we’re comfortable sharing these moments only with our closest and dearest friends. Since the fear of being judged is inherent in most of us, we are unlikely to share these moments with general public. These embarrassing moments can be anything, like you just had a disastrous date or a situation where you made a complete joke of yourself.
How to activate CFS on Instagram?
The essential prerequisite of setting up CFS is that you’ve first create a list of close friends, which barely takes few minutes. Simply follow the steps shared below.
- Go to the Instagram app on your mobile or desktop.
- Click on the profile tab that is usually located in the bottom left-hand corner on the desktop app and bottom right-hand corner on mobile app.
- Once you’re in your profile, click on the three-line menu button in the top right-hand corner. On the desktop, the menu will appear like this:
- Click on the setting and menu option.
- Click on the ‘Close Friends’ option from the menu.
- Select the people you want to add your close friend list and then select save.
Kindly note that based on your interaction, Instagram might automatically suggest some close friends.
Once you’re done all you’ve to do is create engaging stories and tap on ‘Close Friends’ instead of ‘Your Story’ option to share it with only those people selected in your close friends list.
How to recognize CFS?
Thankfully, there is an easy way out to recognize CFS. Stories that are tagged with CFS option will show a small green circle. The green circle indicates that the story is exclusive and is meant to be viewed by only selected people. If there is no green circle or dot then you can safely assume that the story is meant for public viewing.
Conclusion
On the concluding note, Close Friends Story is a great privacy feature that allows Instagram users to share their intimate moments without having to worry about privacy invasion. Not to mention CFS is a great way to be in touch with your closest and trusted friends in today’s fast paced life. By sharing your most private moments, you can continue to foster deeper relation with people who you deeply care about and with whom you always want to stay connected. Last but not least, it helps in keeping online stalkers and predators at bay.