Instagram first started as a basic photo/video-sharing platform. Since the Meta (Facebook at the time) acquisition, though, the service has been evolving into a more hybrid and feature-rich one. Users can now go live, engage in group and 1-on-1 on conversations, post or watch Reels, and much more. In a major update, Instagram has now added even more features focused on Direct Messages (DMs). It's worth mentioning, though, that the rollout is only available in select countries. The company plans to make these additions available globally at a later date.
New Instagram Features
Quick Replies
When you're browsing through your Instagram feed and someone DMs you, you can now swipe down on the in-app notification to bring up a Reply text field. There you can type a reply and send it without needing to actually navigate to your Inbox. This feature seemingly supports text replies only for the time being. If you want to respond with media, you would have to head to the Inbox -- as you would normally do.
DM Shortcuts
Whether it be memes, photos of the gorgeous Mother Nature, or footage of the latest disaster, plenty of users share Instagram posts with their friends through DMs. To make the sharing process faster and easier, the Meta-owned company is introducing a handy shortcut. When you hold down on the share button on a post, a pop-up will show some of your closest Instagram friends. Just tap on one of them, and the post will instantly land in their Inbox.
Online Status Bar
Ever wondered which of your friends are also feeling insomniac at 3:28AM? Do you want to chat with them about the unending existential dread that keeps you wide awake every other night? Instagram now has an answer for that! There's a new top bar in your Inbox that includes a horizontal list compiling all of your online friends.
Song Previews
Do you want the latest ear worm to conquer the minds of your online besties? One of Instagram's new features allows you to send a 30-second preview for your friends to listen to directly in the DMs. This addition is a very welcome one -- allowing you to enjoy tunes without interrupting the conversation's flow.
Silent Messages
Some people don't appreciate humor as much as we do. They find it disturbing when a meme in their DMs notifies them during their boring 9-to-5 shifts. Or maybe you just want to share an unimportant life update during AM hours. Either way, you can now type @silent in a DM, and the message won't notify them. It'll just sit there patiently waiting for them to eventually check their Inbox.
Lo-fi Theme
There's now a new Lo-fi theme for DMs that is almost guaranteed to make you chill.
Group Polls
Last but not least, Instagram now supports polls in group DMs. Gone are the days of chaotically planning what meal to eat next. Keep in mind, though, that votes are public -- so your friends can see that you've proudly selected the Hawaiian Pizza option.
With these new features and additions rolling out, Instagram is slowly turning into a more reliable platform for Instant Messaging (IM). And considering that Meta already supports cross-messaging between Facebook and Instagram, it only makes sense to bring some of the former's features to the latter service. This only unifies the two and smoothens out the irregularities that uniquely distinguish the two.
Which of these new Instagram features do you plan on using? Let us know in the comments section below.
Source: Instagram