At Last, Meta’s Threads Gets DMs

The social network Threads will finally start testing a direct message (DM) inbox that is distinct from users’ Instagram DM inboxes, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement today. This implies that in order to communicate with someone on Threads, users won’t need to switch between applications or utilize Instagram.

Instagram has been considering how to handle direct messages on Threads for a while.

The startup was developing a prototype last year that would let customers use the Threads app to send a message straight to their Instagram inbox.

Instead of linking users to the inbox of their linked Instagram account, the trial will create a distinct inbox for Threads direct messages. Because the two Meta platforms are intimately linked, enabling users to register a Threads account using their Instagram credentials and automatically following the same persons if they are already on Threads, this was a possibility.

With intentions to launch it in more places shortly, the business will first test this feature in a few select regions, such as Argentina, Thailand, and Hong Kong. At the moment, group messages cannot be sent using the chat feature; only one-on-one chats may.

Clicking the new envelope icon on the taskbar which appears on the left side of the screen on desktops and at the bottom of the screen on iPhone and Android mobile apps will open the Threads inbox. The date of the feature’s general release has not been disclosed by Meta.

This is probably going to be viewed as a good thing for Meta’s new social network. Many people’s Instagram following differs from their Threads following, as TechCrunch recently pointed out. Additionally, it’s possible that some Threads users seldom ever use Instagram, if they use it at all.

Since Threads users are currently unable to send private messages to other users directly, direct messaging was one of the most desired improvements. Using Instagram was the closest thing to a solution. Threads will become more like X with separate inboxes for each platform, which will facilitate message management, particularly for business pages and content producers.

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, stated in 2023 that the social media platform aimed to integrate the Instagram inbox with Threads. At the time, he believed—which isn’t usually the case—that people have comparable fan bases on both social networks.

With features that instantly connected Instagram users with their friends and other producers, Threads’ July 2023 launch was largely reliant on Instagram’s network effects. However, because Threads is public and shares commonalities with other short-form applications like X and Bluesky, the business discovered after more than 20 months of operation that users were creating various networks on the platform.

Because Threads users were requesting a means to have one-on-one chats without switching apps, Meta said it made the decision to provide a separate DM inbox function.

Although it is commendable that Threads has now made a direct message inbox accessible, the company is lagging behind in implementing it.

In May 2024, Bluesky, its competitor social network, launched direct messages. Meta’s announcement also comes a few days after X, which is owned by Elon Musk, improved DMs with a new XChat feature that supports file sharing, group chats, and vanishing mode.