Facebook has started allowing select users to message each other on Messenger and Instagram directly from one app to another. Moreover, Instagram is rethinking its DM system, which is expected to expand and include features from Messenger.
Some of the tools included in the new Instagram messaging system are vanishing messages, custom emojis, custom chat colors and the introduction of the Messengers Watch Together feature. If you do not want any of these features, you can reject the update. Users will also be able to search for profiles across both apps simultaneously.
When will these features be available? We do not know. CNN has mentioned that the feature is being “tested in select markets and will expand globally in the coming months.” There are also rumors going around that Facebook might begin integrating with WhatsApp, but there is no official timeline.
In 2019, Mark Zuckerberg planned to transition his social media empire into something with a greater focus on private communication. Private messaging and small groups are fast-growing online communication areas, so integrating various apps owned by Facebook would be a great way to capture as much of the market as possible.
When Zuckerberg announced his ambition to integrate messaging on Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger in 2019, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes said that it should be broken apart. Hughes argues that Facebook has become a social media monopoly, with users having no other options to switch to. Many politicians in the US, such as Joe Biden, have agreed with that statement. Facebook is also undergoing antitrust investigations in the US and the EU. Zuckerberg was testifying before the FTC last month.