Instagram's new feature is being called 'humiliating' as users fear it could lead to breakups
A new AI tool from Instagram is dividing couples online after commenters warned it could hand daters a fresh way to hide a partner from their followers rather than admit they exist.
The Pixel effect, powered by Meta AI, lets users type a text prompt to pixelate a specific person or object within a photo or story, rather than manually covering them with a sticker or drawing over their face.
The result leaves the rest of the image untouched while making the chosen subject almost impossible to identify.
Instagram announced the tool on its own page, encouraging people experimenting with the so-called 'soft launch' to try it out.
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The caption read: “Soft launching? we got you. Use the Pixel effect in Stories and edit the prompt to call out what you want pixelated, like 'the person on the right.' swipe to see the exact wording we used to try it yourself.”
What is Instagram's soft launch pixel feature?
A soft launch is internet shorthand for hinting at a new relationship without confirming it outright - a hand in the corner of a frame, a pair of trainers under a restaurant table, a cropped shoulder on holiday.
The Pixel effect pushes that concept further, giving users the option to render a partner as a pixelated blur instead of gradually revealing their identity over time.
Instagram has pointed to more practical uses for the tool, such as parents who want to share family photos without showing their children's faces, or users wanting to blur a stranger caught in the background of a street photo.
One commenter agreed there was a legitimate case for it, writing: “This is actually a great feature for parents who don't want to share their children.”
But plenty of others focused on what it could mean for actual couples, particularly if one partner ends up blurred without warning.
One person wrote: “Unless you post progressive unblurring in back to back stories as a whimsical bit, its just a humiliation ritual.” Another argued: “If you are going to blur someone then don't post the person in the first place.”
Why are people worried the feature could cause breakups?
The concern centres on what happens when someone discovers they've been edited out of their own partner's post.
One user imagined the scenario bluntly: “Imagine being in a relationship and your girl says lets take a photo next day you see it on her Instagram and your face is blurred.”
Another was more direct about the fix, writing: “Don't post at all! If you have to blur someone just to 'soft launch' the relationship, maybe the relationship doesn't need to be on Instagram in the first place. Instagram and its weird updates nobody asked for.”
Instagram has not suggested the feature was designed specifically for hiding partners, and the backlash hasn't stopped some users from pointing out its genuine editing uses.
UNILAD has contacted META for comment.
Topics: Instagram, Artificial Intelligence, Social Media, Meta
Thomas Bamford