Meta-owned Instagram has quietly introduced a handful of new features to DMs. The new functionalities are aimed at making the direct messaging experience more interesting. The new features include photo editing capabilities, themes, and stickers in the DMs. The features for the Instagram DMs arrived soon after the platform started allowing users to comment on Stories earlier this month.
Instagram’s new DM features let you add stickers, draw over photos, and more
Thanks to the new features, Instagram users will now be able to edit photos before sending them via DM. You can either draw on the photos or add stickers before sending in direct messages to your friends. Furthermore, you will also be able to create custom stickers from existing images to use in DMs.
You’ll be able to select a photo from a library and use a cutout of any object to make a sticker. Earlier, these features were only available in the Stories composer option. Now, you’ll be able to apply these directly in the DM’s chat interface.
Instagram is also getting new chat themes, which change the look and feel of direct messages. Some of the chat themes include “Fall” and “Sabrina Carpenter”. Furthermore, there’s another new feature for Instagram DMs that lets users add a note on their birthday. It appears at the top of the user’s DM inboxes.
The social networking app has started rolling out the new features gradually across the globe.
Now add comments to each other’s Instagram Stories
Earlier this week, Instagram rolled out another feature that aims to boost user interaction within Stories. Now it allows followers to comment on each other’s Stories. It makes the experience more community-focused, similar to livestreaming where people can engage in bigger discussions.
It looks like the new feature is inspired by user behavior. It’s worth mentioning that users can disable the option to have comments posted on their Stories if they want. The addition of comments on Stories is the social networking giant’s latest push to increase user engagement on the platform.
