Direct messages gain importance and new functions with stickers

Instagram has evolved a lot since its beginnings as an app focused exclusively on sharing photos. Since then, it has acquired functions more typical of its competitors, or even its “sisters”; Today, Instagram is a mix of a social network with a strong viral component (thanks to Reels) and an instant messaging service like WhatsApp.

This last element is the one that has received the most news with the latest update of the application announced by Meta. And more and more people are using Instagram to talk directly with their contacts, something confirmed by the company’s own leader, Adam Mosseri; Direct messaging is one of the parts of the application that has seen the greatest growth in the last year.

In fact, direct messages are so important that They are already affecting Instagram’s algorithm; The app already detects how many times a post has been shared via direct message to determine if it is popular.

Hence the decision to enhance this part of Instagram, especially for users who share photos. From now on, users will be able to Edit photos before sharingincluding the ability to rely directly on them; for example, to add colored hearts. If drawing is not our thing, we will also have the opportunity to add stickers to the photo to make it funnier or bolder.

Speaking of stickers, Instagram will also allow users create your own stickers from a photo already existing; In other words, we can become a “meme” or reaction and send it to our friends in chats. Image editing tools were already present in other parts of the app, such as stories, but now they will extend to chats.

Some chats will also receive new themes that will change the style of direct messages. For example, if we already want summer to end, we can start using a theme related to autumn; Everything indicates that new themes will appear, either on the occasion of annual events or as a promotion, such as a theme inspired by the artist Sabrina Carpenter. Finally, users can now celebrate their birthday by adding a cake icon in Notes, at the top of direct messages that are the equivalent of WhatsApp statuses.

It is important to note that these improvements to direct messages do not only affect Instagram; another Meta application, Threads, will also be able to use the same functions, since at the moment this rival of X (Twitter) does not yet have its own direct messaging function.