Instagram is officially testing direct messages from the web
Consumer Products & Retail
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Consumer Products & Retail
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Instagram is finally bringing direct messages to the web. Mark Zuckerberg has framed messaging as key to the future of Facebook.
Starting this month, a “small percentage” of the platform’s global users will be able to access their DMs from Instagram’s website, which should be useful for businesses, influencers, and anyone else who sends lots of DMs, while also helping to round out the app’s experience across devices. The rollout is only a test. The direct messaging experience will be essentially the same through the browser as it is on mobile. You can create new groups or start a chat with someone either from the DM screen or a profile page.
Facebook has increasingly placed a focus on messaging over the past year. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told The New York Times last spring that “private messaging, groups, and Stories” were the “three fastest-growing areas of online communication.” Instagram Stories are already on the web, and with this announcement, Instagram now allows some of its users to access group chats and private messages from the browser.
Zuckerberg said last year that the company plans to eventually allow Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram users to message each other, regardless of the platform they’re using.
Bringing Instagram DMs to the web seems like another push in that direction.
It's best to watch this in portrait mode.