‘I posted six pictures of my double chin’: How Instagram’s new feature led to instant shaming
Lydia Prior knew something was wrong on her Instagram this week when she got an unexpected notification: a follower had instant liked her.
A full-time content creator based in Hertfordshire, England, Ms Prior is no stranger to curating Instagram grid posts, stories and even the occasional repost. But what was that moment? She had never heard of it.
Frantically she clicked on the notification and thought, “Oh no, what have I done?”
A nightmare greeted her on the app: half a dozen unflattering selfies randomly shared with her hundreds of followers.
“I sent six pictures of my double chin,” she said. “I have no idea what’s going on and I can’t get rid of them, and everyone kept laughing and saying, ‘Did you do that on purpose?’
Ms Prior, 33, was one of millions of Instagram users this week to come across Instants, the app’s new feature that shares a photo with mutual followers or close friends – immediately after it is taken.
How do instants work?
From Instagram introduced the feature on Wednesday, users lamented its unthinkable side effects, from the threat of an accidental toilet selfie to sharing the moment they wake up.
Soon after Ms. Prior learned of her unflattering posts, she looked for ways to disable the feature.
“I was like, ‘This just can’t end well for me,'” Ms Prior said. “I have my fiance’s family there. Can you imagine that?”
Quick Search appears as a small stack of photos in the bottom right corner of the user’s inbox. Tap the stack to see posts from people you know before the camera opens, allowing you to share your own photos. Instagram provides a quick guide on how to use instant moments when a user first clicks on a photo stack.
On the camera page, you can manually choose whether your photo goes into the “Friends” or “Close Friends” category. When you tap the shutter button a second time, the photo you take is shared with people on those lists.
Only users you follow and who follow you back, or those on your close friends list, can see your snaps, a Meta spokeswoman said. These people can react and reply to the pictures, but unlike stories, you won’t be able to tell who the lurkers are if they just viewed them.
Similar to snaps on Snapchat, moments disappear immediately after someone sees them. After 24 hours, no one can view it immediately and your followers can’t take screenshots of it either.
“We have double chins.
Sophia Pacitti, 32, couldn’t stop laughing when she discovered the snaps on Wednesday night. Her photo feed was flooded with unfiltered selfies taken from awkward angles, often shared by friends with a carefully curated Instagram presence.
“I know these people and they never post a selfie like this,” Ms Pacitti said. “We have double chins, selfies on our foreheads, confused and disgruntled faces.
In solidarity with her friends, Ms Pacitti posted a “stupid, ugly looking” photo with her eyes wide and half her face framed.
She called the update “ham” in Thursday’s reel, where her followers shared in the humiliation. “We’ve all had a taste of what it’s like to be an old person trying to navigate social media,” one user commented.
“A lot of people are going to be really embarrassed and other people are going to be really angry because they’re ruining their reputation for excellence with these filters and orchestrated stories,” she said. “This is real and raw, you know? They’re caught in the wild.”
Instagram wants users to share “more authentic moments.”
Instagram said Instants offer users a way to share casual, everyday photos that aren’t as polished as their feed and story posts.
In a role on Wednesday, Adam Mosseri, chief executive of Instagram, said the feature will help people share “much more authentic moments of their day.”
“We know that this type of sharing of personal moments with friends is a core part of what makes Instagram Instagram,” Mr Mosseri said. “But we also know that many people don’t share much on their profiles anymore, so we’re always looking for new ways, like Instants, to get people to connect with personal content with the people they care about most.”
Brian Bidanjiri, a personal trainer and nutrition coach, rarely shares casual posts on Instagram because he uses his account to recruit clients. However, the introduction of instant actions allowed him to interact with his friends in the app at low stakes.
“She doesn’t need to get any likes,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how many views it gets. Only I can be stupid.”
How to undo and avoid sending instant messages.
It’s easy to undo immediately.
If you immediately regret a photo, you can tap the “back” button that appears at the bottom of the screen right after you’ve shared it, but it must happen within seconds of sending it.
You can also delete individual moments from the archive where they are stored. Users can access the archive by tapping the four squares in the upper right corner of their instant messaging page. From there, tap on the moment you want to delete, then select “Delete Moment” from the drop-down menu in the top-right corner of the screen.
If your selfie skills are exceptionally clumsy, you can also disable moments in the settings and activities tab. Under What you see, click Content preferences. Then turn on Hide instant messages in inbox.
Moments can also be temporarily postponed. In your Instagram inbox, hold the IM stack and swipe right to hide it. Swipe left to bring them back. But be careful where you click.