Previously, it was possible to mute someone’s Stories (tap and hold their profile icon), but not their photos, in your main feed. Now, a new mute button on Instagram will save thousands — maybe millions — of tepid friendships.

If you’re sick of someone who posts too often, or you just don’t want to see them for any reason, you no longer have to outright unfollow them; you can just subtly mute them.

Although Instagram never made it obvious that you unfollowed someone, it was still possible for them to find out by looking through their followers list — and that had the potential to create some hurt feelings. And so it was that we remained hostage to their many unwelcome posts all this time.

But now, muting these insufferable people, like the gracious and polite person you are, solves those problems.

Instagram said that it added this feature to make your feed more personalized, but acknowledged there was clearly user demand for it. “We've also heard it may be a useful tool for managing complex social dynamics,” said a rep for the company.

