A Series Of New Instagram DM Features That Make It More Comfortable When Chatting

There are a number of new updates on Instagram. (photo: doc. instagram)

JAKARTA - Instagram kept its promise that at the end of last year it would bring a dozen new improvements to its direct message or DM inbox in 2022.

The improvements include, where users can share music previews in DMs, send messages secretly, can see who is online, the ability to reply to messages while browsing feeds and much more.

The Meta-owned social media said the work was part of its larger effort to improve the way users connect and share with friends.

This update comes shortly after the launch of the chronological feed options which are divided into two, namely Following and Favorite. This feed allows users to view ranked uploads without using an algorithm.

Now that Instagram is turning its attention to DMs, here's a brief explanation of the DM update, as quoted by VOI from TechCrunch, Friday, April 1.

Share Music

With this capability, Instagram will integrate with Apple Music, Amazon Music and soon, Spotify, to allow users to share 30-second previews of songs in chats.

Reply to Messages while Scrolling Feed

This upgrade can make it easier for users to reply to new messages while browsing their Feed, without having to open DMs and lose track of their Feed.

Fast Message Delivery

Now users can also tap and hold the share button to quickly re-share the upload to four closest friends.

Status

At the top of the DM, users can now see who they can chat with by displaying their online status, similar to Messenger.

Silent Message

In addition, users can choose to send messages to friends without disturbing them with notifications, such as when they are busy or asleep. To do so, users must add “@silent” to their messages.

Lo-fi Chat Theme

A new theme designed to make conversations feel more personal, featuring city-like views and cats.

poll

Users can now also use the Poll sticker to create live polls in group chats.

Other

Instagram DMs also received a few more improvements, including the ability to change chat colors, react with emojis, watch shared videos, and more.

It's worth noting that some of these new improvements require users to upgrade to an improved Instagram messaging experience, enabling cross-app communication between Instagram and Messenger.

Further, only sharing music, new chat themes and sending instant messages will work if the user has not opted in to the enhanced messaging experience.

Instagram's DMs aren't the only messaging product that Meta has upgraded this week. Messenger recently also introduced "@" functionality such as Slack which will notify all participants in the chat of a new message, and other shortcuts such as the "/silent" feature similar to Instagram's "@silent", and more.

Lastly, Instagram states the new DM feature will be available in select countries when it launches, but will expand globally over time.