Instagram new threaded photos facility

The Instagram team has been hard at work. Not only did they make a fundamental change moving away from square shape only pics, but now they have added new functionality to the Direct Message facility.

Now, Instagram Direct will include Threaded Messages.

This latest update falls right into the trend of instant conversations which are a mix of images, text and emoji. With this update, Instagram is looking for fall more inline with how today’s world want to share – some images are for everyone whilst others are for family and friends. Now with this update, Instagram is catering for both.

What is Instagram Direct ?

You might want to share pic of your kids with your family members or share those not-so-appropriate-pics with your mates and not with everyone that follows you. This is what Instagram Direct is for. It is the ability to share an image with just select people and not with all your followers. Since its introduction back in 2013, 85 million people use this facility to share images with their selected family and friends.

Just like a group chat on WhatsApp, sending a message to the group is simple done by adding your latest thought and comments to the bottom of the conversation. So too Threaded Messages in Instagram allows you to add your latest image to the bottom of the previous conversation with the selected people. You can view the previous images and comments and then add your own which makes it easier to share.

There is even a “quick camera” option that opens the front-facing camera for that selfie moment complete with “larger-than-life emoji for when there are just no words.”

Instagram Direct Privacy

Direct messages are only visible to the person or people you share the images with. If your account is set to “Private” and you would like to send am Instagram Direct message to someone, he/she must first be a follower of your account before they are able to see the message.

What is also encouraging to see if that  Instagram has once again acknowledged and confirmed that the ownership of the images belongs to the user:“And, as always, you own your photos and videos — today’s updates do not change that.”

How to Share with Instagram Direct ?

According to Instagram:

Now, you’ll find an arrow next to the like and comment icons under every post. Tap it to send that post to a friend or group as a message using Instagram Direct. It will appear as part of your conversation, and you can tap the photo or video to see and like the original post. You can also send hashtag pages and location pages by tapping the arrow icon in the top right-hand corner.

How to get the new Instagram Direct ?

You need to run the lasted version of Instagram. The iOS version 7.5 is available in Apple’s App Store, and Instagram for Android version 7.5 is available today on Google Play.