Instagram Revamps Instagram Direct

In the world of social and digital, the  messaging services seem to be king. This is evident by SnapChat, WhatsApp and Kik. Even the social services are upping their game in this department. The latest to redo their messaging is Instagram. This week they announced the first major change to direct since the launch in 2013.

The most recent update (at writing time, I have been unable to see the new Instagram) allows you to share posts and new messages way better. The new change makes the messaging process a threaded message so you can send more than one picture in each message. Also, It will allow you to follow the conversation much easier.

They are not just stopping there. If you have a group of people you send messages too now save the group and it can be given a name. This means you won’t have to select the group rather than each individual person. This will be a major time savor for people. Another feature is Quick Camera feature to respond to selfies on the fly. Last but not least are giant emojis. What’s a messaging service without emojis I ask you!

instagram-messaging

One of the most interesting features is not in the messaging service. In the man stream there is now a share app. This will allow you to share a picture/video with a friend or group of friends that would find it inserting. It’s a brand new way to share content. It won’t repost the image in your stream like the Repost app. The way you will share is next to the Like, comment there will be a new arrow that will share that post with friends. This is a welcome feature!

The reason the sharing was implemented is, according to Instagram, 40% or comments were people @ mentioning their friends. Now compelling content can live on outside the stream! This I think is a great change for the service.

What this means for your brand: Now when you create content it has the possibility to reach more people. Plus you will be able to communicate with your followers more efficiently on the service.

Pictures by Instagram in this post. I prefer to show my own screen captures but I didn’t have the update at publishing time.

 

Tim is the founder of Element33. A social media agency specializing in education, management and strategy for small businesses. He comes from a traditional marketing agency but has embraced all things digital. He considers himself a marketing nerd and believes that all marketing is tied together. This means no matter what silo you are in, social, email, seach, etc, changes in one will affect the other!

Leave a Reply