Instagram's Instants (under Meta) focuses on sharing self-disappearing photos and videos, a move seen as direct competition with Snapchat in the temporary messaging segment.
According to reports, Instants is currently only in the internal prototype stage. The application allows users to send and receive short photos or videos that will automatically disappear after being viewed.
This content does not appear on personal pages and is not as public as traditional posts. Instead, Instants emphasizes the element of private, instant and momentary sharing.
Meta's spokesman confirmed that the company is testing this project, but has not announced official release plans.
This shows that Instants is still being evaluated before it can be widely launched.
Information about Instants was first discovered by Alessandro Paluzzi, a famous programmer specializing in decoding new features through application code analysis.
Paluzzi said he found a reference to Instants in the "Also from Meta" section on Instagram, where the application is briefly described as a tool to share self-destructing photos with friends.
Notably, besides the standalone application, Instagram is also testing a feature in the main application with a similar name.
This feature was once developed under the name "Shots", allowing sending self-deleted photos via direct messages.
The image will disappear after the recipient opens to view or automatically expires within 24 hours.
This operating method is quite similar to the core mechanism that made Snapchat successful.
In fact, Instagram now has temporary messaging tools such as "Watch once" or "Disappear mode". Therefore, Instants can be seen as an expansion of the content disappear strategy, rather than a completely new concept.
In the context that young users are increasingly prioritizing privacy and fast communication, the trend of self-destructing content continues to be an important competitive front between social networking platforms.
If launched, Instants could mark Meta's new effort to consolidate its position in the instant messaging race, where Snapchat still maintains a pioneering advantage.
