Instagram allows you to DM people i.e. to send a direct message to people. You can easily exchange private messages with users who are following you. You can as well send a message request to users who do not follow you. Also, you can use this same feature to send self-destructing photos on Instagram. The app basically has an inbuilt chat feature that functions very well if two users are following each other. It might shock you, therefore, to learn that you can’t create a DM group on Instagram, at least not apparently. The Direct Messages screen does not have an explicit group option but you can as well create a DM group on Instagram.
There are actually two approaches to create a DM group on Instagram, one is more obvious than the other.
Create A DM Group – Direct Message Screen
Open the Instagram app and tap the paper plane icon at the upper right. This will take you to the Direct Messages screen. There’s no ‘Create Group’ option although, if you select multiple individuals from the list of users, Instagram will automatically create a DM group. This particular screen, on the surface of it, seems to allow you to send a message to multiple users independently but that isn’t the situation.
Name the group and send a text or a photo message.
Create A DM Group – Instagram Story
Instagram allows you to create stories just like the way Snapchat does. Snapchat allows you to share snaps to everybody via your story, with groups of friends, or with friends. Instagram is a faithful clone of this feature.
Tap the camera button at the upper left. Take a photo and tap the “Next” button at the bottom right. This will take you to the send screen where you can pick who you would want to send the photo to. At the upper right of this screen is a ‘Create Group’ option. Tap on it and create a DM group. This DM group will show up on the Direct Message screen.
Clearly, the UI/UX needs a little attention. Because the way the group feature is implemented, clueless users may think the groups are just for images they snap via the Stories screen. It looks suspiciously like Instagram just slapped on new a feature without thinking how they will function together.
This is not the only difference between the Direct Message and the send story screens. If you pick an individual user from the send story screen, then it does indeed give you the option to share the image independently with the users. It’s precisely the same thing the Direct Messages screen hints at but it does not actually do.
