Tired of scrolling past pics of your friend’s tummy tea business venture or burgeoning rap career? Instagram has kindly installed a new feature that will allow you to mute other accounts, similar to the mute feature offered on Twitter and the unfollow option on Facebook.
Before this app update, it was possible to mute another user’s Instagram story, but not their main account from your feed. This new feature offers a softer alternative to blocking or unfollowing people who get on your nerves or post way too much. According to BuzzFeed News, mute will still allow you to view photos on someone’s profile or see DMs from them, but without having their posts pop up on your main feed. You’ll also still get notifications after being tagged in a photo or in comments by the person you muted.
In a world where unfollowing someone on Instagram quickly becomes national news, the mute feature will serve those more passive aggressive people among us trying not to make waves or hurt anyone’s feelings. Instagram even acknowledged that this new feature is a lifesaver for complicated interpersonal relationships. “We've also heard it may be a useful tool for managing complex social dynamics,” a rep for the company told BuzzFeed. For instance, finding out your sister’s baby daddy was caught red-handed cheating on her with several other women.
Mute is expected to take a few weeks to appear for everyone, according to Instagram, so don’t fret if you don’t see the option on your app yet. This feature is no doubt a saving grace, but plenty of us are still waiting to have our feed put back into chronological order.
