Are SnapChat’s days numbered? Popular photo sharing social network Instagram has announced a new feature that competes with the white ghost.

Available in Instagram 5.0 being released today for iOS and Android, a new icon in the top right corner of the home screen appears where your direct messages will be collected.

Instagram writes on their blog, “To send a photo or video to specific people, tap the camera button to enter the same simple photo or video capture and editing screens. At the top of the share screen, you’ll see the option to share with your followers (‘Followers’) or to send to specific people (‘Direct’). To send using Direct, tap the names of the people you want to send your photo or video to, write your caption, tap ‘send’ and you’re done.”

Instagram says that you’ll be able to see different statistics about your direct photos including who viewed it, who’s liked it, and who’s commented on it.

In other words, Instagram Direct is a way for people to share photos with a select group of friends.

One key difference between Instagram’s Direct feature and SnapChat: Direct’s photos do not self destruct. This unique SnapChat feature has been the reason the service has exploded in popularity.

Check out this artsy announcement video which demonstrates the features:

Today’s announcement also comes on the heels of Twitter allowing users to privately send photos to one another earlier this week.

Will you use Instagram Direct?

The photo sharing service, owned by Facebook, announced this morning that they currently have 150 million active users.