Instagram has launched its own direct messaging service, letting people send photos and videos to each other privately. The new service, called Instagram Direct was announced by Facebook-owned company’s New York event yesterday. In introducing Instagram Direct, co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom noted that communication and photography aren’t disparate entities. The company launched, he recalled, […]
Instagram has launched its own direct messaging service, letting people send photos and videos to each other privately.
The new service, called Instagram Direct was announced by Facebook-owned company’s New York event yesterday.
In introducing Instagram Direct, co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom noted that communication and photography aren’t disparate entities.
The company launched, he recalled, with the idea to create a new way to communicate, but along the way Instagram became better known for photography than conversing.
That changes with Instagram Direct; now, people can send photos and videos to each other privately while also carrying on a conversation via text. There are moments, Instagram effused, that we only want to share with certain people, and that’s where Direct fits in.
In a demo, Systrom showed how one user could send a picture to another, then send and receive text notifications in an ongoing conversation.
When users open the Instagram app, they’ll see a new Direct icon in the top right corner of their home feed.
The service doesn’t work without a photo or video – users can’t simply send a text-based message to one another without an image setting off the conversation.
