This is a previously established feature, but it is one of the greatest to be recognized.
You most likely have someone on your feed or stories that you don’t want to unfollow but also don’t want to view their material.
In this situation, you may select Mute, which will remove the person’s material from your feed while continuing to follow them; in other words, they will be unaware that their postings are no longer appearing in their feed.
Simply follow the instructions below to Mute someone:

In stories: Press and hold their story > In the popover, tap Mute > Choose whether to mute their posts or stories.

In profile: Tap on the following button on their profile > Choose Mute > Choose whether to mute stories or posts

You may also unmute their stories or updates by tapping on Following on their profile.