PSA: Instagram notifies your friend when you screenshot their DMs

Of course it does.
 By 
Damon Beres
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Instagram's latest Snapchat plagiarism update lets you send self-destructing messages to your friends — an excellent feature for sexy time. Just know that your friend will be notified if you take a screenshot of their message.

Buzzfeed remarked Friday that people are "freaking out" over the notifications, which work exactly as you'd expect them to. If you send a "disappearing message" to a friend and they take a screenshot, you'll get a message on your phone saying so — just like you would on Snapchat.

Note that the notifications are only for the new disappearing message feature, which, if you're anything like me, you probably can't figure out how to use anyway.


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Instagram has a weird, dual-identity thing going on right now: When you open the app, you see the feed you're accustomed to, with the standard buttons for snapping pictures of babies and brunches, but you can also swipe over to a new window that lets you send ephemeral messages. Literally swipe from the left to the right of your screen to get to the new window, which looks like this (kitten not included):

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Snap your picture or Boomerang and you'll have the option to send it directly to individual friends. After they view it, it'll delete itself.

Don't worry, though: There is a recent Instagram screenshot feature that's legitimately kind of creepy. Take a screenshot of your feed and Instagram will pop a new window down saying "You can share this post with your friends."

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Essentially, the app understands that you've taken a screenshot of an image, presumably to send to someone or post online, and it'll offer a few ways to officially share the image if you tap the button.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

You do you, but all we gotta say is: best not be sharing our beautiful turkey pictures on your Facebook. That's just creepy.

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Damon Beres

Damon Beres is an Executive Editor at Mashable, overseeing tech and science coverage. Previously, he was Senior Tech Editor at The Huffington Post. His work has appeared in Reader's Digest, Esquire.com, the New York Daily News and other fine outlets.

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