Instagram's new update adds a fun new way to reply to direct messages
Instagram isn't just about posting selfies or artsy photos. The Facebook-owned app has been building out its direct messaging capabilities, and the company just revealed a new feature that'll help transform the app into something users will want to use all day, every day.
The company released an update on Thursday that now lets Instagram users reply with a photo or a video directly to someone else's private message of a specific photo, video, or reshared post, the Instagram announced in a blog post.
In a fun twist, the receiver's reply will include a sticker of whatever the person is responding to within the photo or video. It pretty much puts an Instagram in your private Instagram, automatically, on Instagram.
Another new method for replying allows users to include the sender's original message as a split-screen, rather than a sticker. Users can expand the sticker into a split-screen by tapping it.
Then, users have the ability to draw on the sticker. Instagram showed an example in the blog post on the update, showing a guy transforming himself into the dog with the new feature
Both updates can make conversing way more visual and more fun for friends, which is something Facebook's worst enemy Snapchat also has been working on. Already, young users on Instagram, under the age of 25, spend 32 minutes per day using the app.
It's not the only time that Instagram has stepped into Snapchat territory. Last year, Instagram released a copycat version of Snapchat's Stories feature for sharing collections of images and photos that disappear after 24 hours. That's taken a toll on Snapchat's engagement for many of its most active users, according to data from social analytics company Delmondo.
But Snapchat has been pushing back against that idea, saying that engagement in its app has never been more popular for its daily active users, on average.
This updates is just the latest of Instagram's big app changes. On Wednesday, the app updated its comments with conversation threads. Earlier this month, they launched live video chat that can feature two users.
Topics Facebook Instagram Snapchat Social Media
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
