The new tool, available globally today (in some countries as an independent app), will allow sharing “informal and unfiltered images” that disappear once they are seen by selected contacts, ceasing to be available after 24 hours, Meta said in a statement.
Contacts will be able to react and reply to snaps, and responses will be sent directly via private messages. In addition, “Instants” will have a companion application to facilitate faster access to the camera.
“We want to make it easier to share moments with your friends,” the company said, adding that the feature is designed to publish content “without pressure” and show “life as it happens.”
Snaps will be located in the lower right corner of your Instagram inbox and can be sent to best friends or mutual followers.
The company also incorporated an “undo” option that will allow you to delete a snapshot before it is viewed, as well as a function to create compilations of archived images and reshare them later on Instagram stories.
Along with this function, Meta, which today rose 2.22% on Wall Street before the stock market closed, launched in some countries an independent “Instants” application for iOS and Android that will offer direct access to the camera and automatic synchronization with the main Instagram account.
The launch comes at a time when social networks are intensifying their efforts to reinforce so-called ephemeral content, a segment historically dominated by Snapchat and which has also been successfully boosted in recent years by TikTok.
“Instants” will incorporate the same protections as teen accounts, including time-sharing limits, sleep mode, and parental supervision.