Instagram Introduces Direct Messaging Feature

Instagram, the Facebook-owned photo and video sharing app, added a new feature today that lets users share photos and videos with up to 15 people. The feature is called Instagram Direct and is available for Apple and Android phones. Instagram's co-founder Kevin Systrom claimed that the limit of 15 receivers is about making a private photo/video sharing with friends.

To use Instagram Direct, first you need to download the latest update of the app from Google Store or Apple's App Store. When you want to post a picture, you will see two new tabs on the top of the post to choose from for sharing – "followers" and "direct". When you select "direct", you can choose a specific friend (or up to 15 friends) to type a message to. When your friend (friends) opens the photo, their profile picture inside the message gets a checkmark. When you receive a photo, you will notice a small inbox icon on the upper right corner of the app, which will then send you straight to your new messages.

Instagram has always been a public social network where users have liked or publicly commented on pictures and videos, their list of followers. By introducing Instagram Direct, users who follow each other will be able to send each other private messages, which can include photos or videos.

For the time being this app has one disadvantage – you can't put your Instagram Direct contacts into individual groups, such as one for coworkers or another for your basketaball buddies. However, Systrom states that the feature is still to be worked on.

Kate Smith

Kate Smith is an Anglophile, in love with London, undergrounds, tea time and pub culture. She has an utmost interest in all things new that would make a better world, with technology being the core of it. Follow her on Google+.