Anyone who indulges in a little Instagram stalking every now and again will be familiar with the deathly cold jolt of terror that grips your very soul when you accidentally like an image from your ex’s new girlfriend’s cousin’s J1 trip.
The thought of that little red notification alerting the world to the fact that you are eating cold pizza and idly browsing the selfies of strangers at 3am is enough to make you change your name and grab a go-bag.
But did you know that there is a way to do a little damage control before breaking for the border?
Yes. With a little jiggery-pokery and a lightening quick reflex, you can minimise the mortification into little more than a raised eyebrow.
As explained by Deanna Cheng on the OMFG podcast and spotted by Pure Wow, here’s how to do it:
STEP 1: Breathe.
STEP 2: Unlike the photograph immediately.
STEP 3. Scroll (as fast as your scrolling finger will allow you) to the top of the Instagram feed and double tap the newest image on the page.
Here’s how it works: When someone likes an image on your feed, you get an alert that lurks in your ‘Gram until you pop in to look at it. As long as your snoop-ee wasn’t staring at his or her phone when you accidentally double-tapped the first photo, she or he will only get one alert and should therefore presume you simply liked their latest update.
Is it a perfect solution? No, you still need to get your hands dirty. But if it’s the difference between being caught peeping at a 53-week-old family photo or an innocuous lunch snap, we know what we’d choose.
