Just in time for the holidays — a.k.a. when you're posted up on the couch post-Christmas dinner, stuffed from pie, and too lazy to even type — Instagram is rolling out yet another new feature: voice messages.
Users can now send voice messages in Instagram Direct, in addition to already being able to communicate via texts, photos, and GIFs. Much like with iPhone voice messages, to send a voice message in Direct, just press on the microphone icon next to the photo and GIF icons in the bottom right hand corner of your DM conversation. Then just hold it down for the duration of your message (up to one minute) and send it along. It's perfect for the stuff you don't want in writing or is too complicated to type out on your phone.
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With this great power comes great responsibility, though. (Lest you forget, it go down in the DM.) The ability to send voice messages means it's, uh, a lot easier to send messages you may or may not regret the next morning.
The good news: There is a way to unsend DMs. After sending a message, just tap and hit Unsend, which should retract it. There's a chance, though, that the recipient will still receive the notification.
This addition to Direct Messages comes on the heels of Instagram's recent launch of Close Friends, another feature created to help users connect more easily — and intimately — on the app. The Close Friends feature allows you to curate a list of your closest friends to share your Instagram Stories with. You know, the NSFW content that you don't want to share with your former boss or weird aunt. Be careful, though, with those, too — just because you're sending Stories to a select crew of friends doesn't mean they can't be screenshot and circulated beyond your inner circle.
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