Skip to main content

Instagram merges with Messenger for easier cross-platform messaging

Instagram now offers cross-app messaging and calling with Messenger.

The plan to merge the two services was first announced by parent-company Facebook in early 2019, with today’s official announcement coming after a trial period that started in mid-August, 2020.

Related Videos

It means that users of Instagram and Messenger will be able to exchange direct messages, photos, and videos with friends and family without hopping in and out of different apps, or downloading new ones.

The change is currently being rolled out on Instagram and Messenger in a number of countries around the world, with a global expansion coming soon.

The social networking giant also intends to merge the messaging services of another of its acquisitions, WhatsApp, in the near future, and add secure end-to-end encryption between all three.

“People are communicating in private spaces now more than ever,” Facebook wrote in a post announcing the update. “More than a billion people already use Messenger as a place to share, hang out, and express themselves with family and friends. That’s why we’re connecting the Messenger and Instagram experience to bring some of the best Messenger features to Instagram — so you have access to the best messaging experience, no matter which app you use.”

No download is needed, though for the time being at least, users have to opt in to use the new system. At some point, we can expect that everyone will be automatically moved to the new experience.

Facebook is offering a bunch of new features to encourage people to make the switch, among them access to so-called “selfie stickers” and a new way to watch videos with friends and family during a call, while a new “vanish mode” lets you set messages to automatically disappear after they’ve been seen.

Explaining why it decided to merge the services, Facebook said its own research found that “four out of five people who use messaging apps in the U.S. say that spending more time connecting with friends and family on these apps is important to them, yet one out of three people sometimes find it difficult to remember where to find a certain conversation thread,” adding that the new feature will make it “even easier to stay connected without thinking about which app to use to reach your friends and family.”

When the plan for the merger was first announced last year, critics suggested Facebook was using it as a way to shield it from calls to be broken up over antitrust issues. But Zuckerberg has always maintained that merging the services is more about improving the overall user experience and to enhance privacy protection.

Editors' Recommendations

Meta’s new AI research may boost translations on Facebook, Instagram
Image with languages displaying in front of a man on his laptop for Meta's 200 languages within a single AI model video.

Facebook's parent company, Meta, announced a new AI model today that can translate hundreds of languages, and its research is expected to help improve language translations on its social media apps, specifically Facebook and Instagram.

On Wednesday, Meta unveiled its new AI model, NLLB-200. NLLB stands for No Language Left Behind, which is a Meta project that endeavors to "develop high-quality machine translation capabilities for most of the world’s languages." The AI model that came from that project, NLLB-200, can translate 200 languages.

Read more
The new ways Meta will pay you to make content for Facebook and Instagram
facebook hacked

Creators on Facebook and Instagram will soon have more ways to generate revenue from their content.

On Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared via a Facebook post (and in a series of comments on that post), a few updates on monetization for creators on Facebook and Instagram. These updates included expansions to existing monetization options, as well as a few new ways to make money.

Read more
Instagram and Facebook apps add features, move ever-closer to TikTok parity
Screenshots of full-screen posts on Instagram.

Meta has introduced new tools for the Reels video feature on Instagram and Facebook that are a one-two punch against TikTok. The company announced the new features on Thursday, saying they would make it easier for content creators who prefer one or both of the platforms to their behemoth long-form video competitor to better connect with their audience.

On Instagram, Meta has extended Reels to 90 seconds, giving users more time to express themselves and promote their brands and products. In addition to the extended run time, Reels is also getting stickers that were once exclusive to Instagram Stories. Aside from the captions that are present at the beginning of a video, users will be able to use polls, stickers, and emoji slider stickers when showing their viewers new things or comparing what hairstyle, outfit, or product design they might like best.

Read more