Instagram wants you online forever with mindless “Instants” feature

Instagram is making it easier to overshare online by robbing the former BeReal’s grave and swiping features from Snapchat. “Instants” ensures that you’ll never have a mindful, unplugged experience ever again.

Meta has just released a new in-app feature for Instagram, which lets users send “disappearing” photos to their friends and followers.

“Instants” is a new way to connect with friends and followers by sharing “spontaneous, unfiltered photos” that help users “share in the moment,” according to Instagram.

The announcement is riddled with adjectives like casual, spontaneous, and unfiltered, which is Instagram’s way of assuring users that this new feature is a super cool, nonchalant way to document your entire life.

It’s important to remember that when someone repeatedly says that something is going to be really laid back and relaxed, it usually isn’t.

So, in reality, Instagram likely wants users to obsessively engage with its new feature to keep them on the app.

Instead of encouraging users to live in the moment, which arguably is what really matters, Mark Zuckerberg’s app is urging users to “share in the moment.”

But that’s besides the point. We’re not here to pick apart Meta’s public relations team – we’re here to talk about “Instants.”

Instagram “knows” what its audience wants

Instagram's “Instants” has Frankensteined the “best” parts of the once-viral app BeReal and Snapchat, in the hopes of creating an experience slightly different from Instagram stories.

Around 500 million Instagram users reportedly post stories daily, which is one-third of its total users, according to Business of Apps.

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Stories is seemingly one of Instagram’s most popular features, besides Reels.

So, Instagram has created a “new” feature that’s just like stories but a little different.

How do “Instants” work?

“Instants” lets users capture ordinary moments which can be shared with their Close Friends list or their wider following.

These moments can’t be edited and, as the name suggests, are sent off to friends and followers within an instant.

Once viewed, the image will disappear, but it’ll be saved in a private archive for up to a year.

The “Instants” archives can only be viewed by the user who took the “Instant,” it’s not available to the people who were originally sent the image.

Another important detail is that Instagram doesn’t let users screenshot another person’s Instant, even if it was sent to them directly.

While Instagram won’t let you screenshot “Instants,” it’s important to note that anyone can take a picture of a disappearing photo on another device.

Instagram recycles BeReal concept

This emphasis on uploading photos rather than short-form content might indicate that Instagram is going back to its roots.

However, it’s likely that Meta is simply recycling dead concepts from the “once popular” app graveyard.

“Instants” closely resembles the French-made app BeReal, which markets itself as the app that lets you see “what your friends are actually doing, not what they’re pretending to do.”

The concept seemingly criticizes Instagram’s highly curated, “authenticity blind” approach to social media, as Instagram influencers and users at large have been accused of showing an overly idealized version of themselves online.

Instagram has definitely bolstered this sense of dishonesty by providing filters and allowing users to heavily edit and curate their content.

Instagram borrows another feature from Snapchat

Zuckerberg’s app is not only recycling the expiring BeReal concept, but it’s also integrating a feature that many believe is exclusive to Snapchat.

Disappearing messages were popularized by Snapchat as the app's parent company believed that messages, videos, and photos weren’t meant to be forever.

Instagram has been accused of stealing features from social media rivals before, particularly Snapchat.

Instagram Stories and Snapchat Stories share many similarities, with some saying they’re almost exactly the same, according to Purple Frog.

It seems that Instagram was the one to popularize this feature and directly threatened Snapchat, as the need to use two different social media platforms was removed.

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