Instagram Lets Creepers Be Creepers By Dropping Alerts For Story Screenshots

Back at the beginning of February, Instagram announced that it would begin notifying users when other people snapped a screenshot of the Stories they shared. Snapchat, which has been a continuous source of inspiration for Instagram, has done something similar for years, so it wasn't really surprising to see Instagram follow suit in this instance. What is surprising is what's happening today, as Instagram has confirmed that it's scrapping these notifications instead of rolling them out to everyone.

Instagram has confirmed the decision to BuzzFeed News, stating that notifications for Story screenshots are being dropped altogether. It doesn't give a reason for this decision, so we're left guessing why Instragram has ditched the feature instead of rolling it out on a wide scale. We know one thing, though: You're free to be an Instagram creeper once more – at least when viewing other people's Stories – because the service is no longer going to rat you out for capturing screenshots.

Perhaps it shouldn't be much of a surprise that Instagram is moving away from screenshot notifications, as it's pretty much left the feature untouched since it first rolled out. Because of this, it was unclear who was subject to this rule and who wasn't. Instagram would deliver a warning to some users when they snapped a screenshot of a Story, but beyond that, it was difficult to know if the service was going to out you as the creeper you were.

If that was a point of stress for you, then you can breath a sigh of relief today. Attempting to screen capture photos and videos sent as DMs will still result in a notification, but snap away when you're viewing Stories.

Just a few days ago, Instagram rolled out a new feature that allows you to reshare Stories you're mentioned in as part of your own Story. Knowing Instagram, it won't be long before we hear about the next new feature, so stay tuned for that.