Instagram has a habit of pinching features from other social platforms - with mixed results. In the past, it has copied Stories from Snapchat, making them even more popular in the process. Conversely, its recent obsession with TikTok-style short clips, dubbed Reels, prompted a fierce backlash that forced management to walk back its video-centric redesign.
Now, Instagram is testing Candid Stories; throwaway visual posts that users are encouraged to share at a specific time of the day.
If that sounds familiar, that’s because it essentially plagiarises the defining feature offered by BeReal, an app that went viral earlier this year after it was embraced by Gen Z. BeReal essentially asks users to share a quick, unfiltered daily pic of themselves and their surroundings (using a phone’s front and back cameras) at a random time of the day. The idea is to keep things spontaneous and, well, real.
Of course, that’s the opposite of what Instagram is about. The idea of taking impromptu, unedited pics would probably make the app’s influencers recoil in terror. They’re better known for pushing meticulously crafted photos of their luxe lifestyles, which usually involve them lounging on yachts in Dubai or off Italy’s Amalfi Coast.
Instagram says the new disappearing posts will only be visible to those who share their own Candids. You’ll receive a daily notification when it’s time to take a pic, but you can switch off the reminder if you tire of it via your settings.
Instagram’s owner Meta is so enamored with Candids that it is also testing them out on its other platform, Facebook.
Along with the timed pics, there are some other new features on the way. Instagram is also rolling out Notes, which are short, direct messages of up to 60 characters that appear atop your friends’ inboxes; Group Profiles, that let you share posts and stories with a group of friends; and Collaborative Collections. The latter sound like Pinterest-style boards that you and your friends can populate with posts (either from your feed or directly) in groups or through one-to-one direct messages.
