Today Kevin Systrom the Co-founder of Instagram announced Instagram Direct. I heard the rumors and didn’t quite understand how direct messaging would work on the platform. If it was like Twitter or other social/messaging apps I felt it would be a bit over kill. Really how many messaging apps do we need? Currently I have Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Google Hangouts and the list keeps on going. Each day I think we get 2 new messaging apps.

After Kevin presented the new feature it makes perfect sense. How many times have you taken a photo and wanted to share it on Instagram but didn’t want all your followers to see it? This has happened to me many times. I usually end up just texting the picture to people I want to see it. Now, you don’t have to do that.

Basically, Instagram Direct is a closed social network for close friends, but you can still have the larger experience. Imagine if they put a Path inside Facebook. After seeing this it had my mind racing of how you can use it. Sure you can use it for friends but I had an an idea. The ability to use in real time with colleges.

My idea would be something like a logo or design function where you need immediate feed back. One person could take a picture and share it with all those involved and get real time feed back that you can keep. I have done this with a text but its not something you could keep for later. I usually clean out my in box on my phone often. This feature stays in the Instagram message box so you can have it for later reference. Its always great to find a real time collaboration tool!

The new app is out in both the Apple App Store and Google Play so update it and try it out! Check out the new video below