Instagram is the social network that allows users to share parts of their lives in the form of photos or videos, which they can modify with any of the various filters to make them look like they want. It is compatible with many platforms, from mobile to PC, so users can see these photos almost everywhere. Recently, the mobile app was updated allowing users to share their photos or videos in different formats and not just the square one that has been available since the social network was envisioned. The new formats could help create a more cinematic effect to the pictures or simply more elements or people could fit into the picture. The idea behind this social network is to share a particular vision to the rest of the world through these media files, but there are certain occasions when users would want to share certain content with a reduced amount of people.
That’s precisely why Instagram launched Direct in 2013, which was a sort of a messaging system to share content with a small group of people and it is used by over 85 million users. Today, Instagram is updating Direct to make it more functional. First of all, messages can now be displayed in a threaded view, so instead of creating a new message each time users want to share some photos or videos, they can do so directly in the conversation. Users will now be able to name their groups however they like to differentiate them and they can respond with a photo taken right at the moment or with an emoji.
Also, there’s the ability to share more than just your own content, so you can use someone else’s content to spice up your conversations or just to share the creations of others that you and your friends might like. The way to do so is by tapping on the curved arrow next to the like and comment icons, which lets you select the person or group you want to share the file with and that will appear on the conversation. Tapping on the file takes you to the original post and hashtag pages as well as location pages can also be shared. The new features won’t affect current privacy settings, as only those who have permission to see the pictures will see them. The update should appear soon enough in the Google Play Store.
