So, here’s just one more reason to love Instagram: If you’re not a fan of it going down in the DM with random creeps, the popular social media platform’s got your back. Instagram has a “secret inbox” where messages from people you don’t follow get filtered to. You’ll receive no notification about receiving these messages, which explains why you probably weren’t aware the secret inbox existed in the first place.

As Cosmopolitan points out, this is just great if, like most women on social media, you’d rather not get spammed out with messages like “‘Hi,’ Hey sexy,’ ‘Hellooooo,’ ‘Hey why u not wana talk?’, ‘Marry me and I will take gd care of u,’” etc., or, worse yet, with the unsolicited dick pics of strangers. The main purpose of this feature is probably to prevent spam, but it’s nice to think despite its sexist censorship, the app has a feminist side to it and wants to protect ladies from cyber sexual harassment and threats.

Naturally, the idea of having a secret inbox that might be full of God alone knows what is pretty tantalizing, especially if you’re like me and were unaware this feature existed until, like, an hour ago. So if you have the courage to take a peek inside Pandora’s box, here’s how to do it.

1) Open the app and click the icon that looks like a box/drawer/folder in the top right corner.

When someone you’re following sends you a message, you’ll find a bright pink dot, following the app’s recent update/makeover, over the icon.

2) Click on “Message request from…”

If you have any message requests, you’ll see a pale blue bar notifying you of them.

3) Open and read your messages.

Straightforward enough, I hope?

4) Indicate if you’d like the sender to be able to message you again or nah.

Selecting “decline” will ensure that the sender doesn’t even know the message was opened. On the other hand, selecting “allow” will indicate to the sender that their message was opened, and enable them to message you again.

CREDIT: Wang Zhao/Getty Images

Original posted by Kylie Cheung @kylietcheung