Instagram wants to become an instant messaging service, and it hopes that videos and photos will become a key part of mobile messaging. Today the Facebook subsidiary introduced Instagram Direct, a tool that enables users to send messages, photos and videos directly to other people. Currently when Instagram users share photos and videos they share these with all their followers.
Kevin Systrom, Instagram’s co-founder and CEO, demonstrated the company’s new service by sending a photo and message directly to his girlfriend. The conversation started with a photo, but continued as a normal text message conversation might. For users, Instagram Direct will be very similar to text messaging, and for smartphone users who are comfortable embedding photos and videos, the new service could become a preferred alternative.
Mobile operators have become keenly aware of Instagram since the company added video to its app in June. Video quickly became almost a third of Instagram’s traffic, according to Citrix, and at times Instagram’s mobile video traffic surpasses that of YouTube. On July 4th, for example, Flash Networks found that Instagram video shares exceeded YouTube video shares.
Instagram Direct could lead to a shift in usage patterns for some mobile customers, if they substitute data (Instagram) for text messaging. It could also mean more video traffic if users start including video in simple one-to-one communications. Offsetting this will be the likelihood that many people may now send videos to fewer friends than they did before. Heavy Instagram users who currently send videos to lots of people may now start identifying one or two friends with whom to share. Instagram Direct allows users to send a video to as many as 15 people at once.
“The only people that can send photos and videos to you are people that you follow,” said Systrom. “If you don’t follow someone it does not mean you can’t receive photos and videos from them. They go into your pending requests.”
Instagram Direct also borrows a popular feature from BlackBerry Messenger. When a message is sent to someone, the sender sees that person’s face in Instagram faded out until that person opens the message. Then the photo darkens to let the sender know the message has been viewed.
The new service could be bad news for other instant messaging apps that allow users to include video, particularly Snapchat. Snapchat, which just announced a $50 million Series C round of funding, recently turned down a $3 billion offer from Instagram parent Facebook.
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