Report Says Instagram May Soon Add A Messaging Function
by Brent Dirks
November 22, 2013
Are you ready for yet another app with messaging capability? According to GigaOm, Instagram is making plans to add a private messaging feature to the next version of the app, which is expected to arrive sometime before the end of the year.
The report also noted that the messaging function might even include some type of group feature. Reasoning for the addition is fairly simple, according to the site:
The upgrade timing makes perfect sense: With the holidays around the corner and smartphones as likely hot gift items, many people are going to experience Instagram for the first time and they should perhaps start with a brand new experience.Messaging services seem to be all the rage these days. Hugely popular Snapchat has recently turned down acquisition offers from both Facebook and Google. Instagram parent Facebook offered $3 billion while Google offered somewhere around $4 billion – and that’s for an app that has never earned a cent of revenue. Even Twitter, which recently had a successful IPO on Wall Street, has reportedly been planning a launch of a separate direct messaging app. I just can’t imagine how a messaging function in Instagram would be useful. But with 200 million users, the company needs even more fans to make advertisers happy, I suppose.