Instagram is introducing Instants, a new feature that allows users to send vanishing images to everyone on their friends list all at once. The social media platform rolled out Instants with an introductory blog post explaining the feature on May 13. Users are greeting the Instants with mixed reviews with many voicing concerns about the possibility of accidentally sending out images they never meant to share. What is Instants? Instants is Instagram’s new feature that allows users to send out images that disappear after friends view them. Though Instants’ “spontaneous, unfiltered photos” are designed to vanish after being seen, they can be saved in a user’s private archive for up to a year. They can also be reshared in Instagram Stories. How do you use Instants? The new Instants feature appears as a stack of photos at the bottom right corner in a user’s inbox. The photos immediately disappear after being viewed. To share your own Instants: Tap the white button below the camera and share as many times as you want. To undo an Instant: Change your mind? The Instants feature includes an undo button that gives you just a few seconds to retract your Instant before it circulates among your friends. To see your previous Instants: Head to your private archive at the top right corner of Instants. To share Instants from your archive to your Instagram Story: Tap “Create recap” in your archive. How does Instants compare to Stories? The feature has a lot in common with Stories, actually. Users can add captions to their Instants images by tapping the viewfinder to pull up the keyboard. But you can add captions prior to taking a photo, which is impossible with Stories. Alas, just like with Stories, those captions can’t be edited. Also as with Stories, you can send Instants to your Close Friends or to your “mutuals” — that is, your Instagram followers who you follow back. Your friends can react and respond to your Instants with replies that appear in your DMs. Is Instants available in a separate app? Yes, Instagram created a new Instants companion app for both iOS and Android. But you don’t need the separate app to use it. Can Instants be disabled? There are a few ways to deal with disabling Instants. Snooze it Go to your DMs window and swipe on the Instants interface to push it into the side of your screen. If you change your mind, you can bring Instants back by swiping left on that edge of your screen to tug it back out. Disable notifications Click the three bars on the top right-hand corner to open up settings Click “notifications” Head to Instants Click the “off” box, disabling notifications Turn off Instants Click the three bars on the top right-hand corner to open up settings Click “content preferences” Click “hide Instants in inbox” What are users saying? Users are responding to Instants with a range of mixed reviews. Some were thrilled by the idea of sending disappearing images in an instant. “Tried it! It’s actually cute,” one wrote. Others are calling out Instagram for having too many features, like one who wrote, “I’m fine with just posts and reels, Insta. Calm down now.” “No one and I mean no one wanted this,” added someone else. Quite a few users are reporting they’ve already accidentally shared unflattering selfies just by looking at the new feature. “It genuinely made a photo of my full face without my will and now all my friends can see it and I don’t know how to delete it,” one wrote on Instagram. “Dude,” another user said on Reddit, “I tried swiping it away from my screen while trying to get to a dm and thought it was weird but nothing crazy. Somehow it took SIX photos of me and sent them to everybody.” “I never even got notified I took a picture let alone sent them,” the user added. This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY: Where Is Mackenzie Shirilla, Subject of ‘The Crash,’ Now? 2 Giant Pandas Are Headed to This US Zoo. Meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang Everything Kate Middleton Has Shared About Her Cancer Diagnosis ...read more read less