Instagram announced a Friday update to its DMs, aimed at enhancing the experience for users who receive a high volume of incoming messages, such as creators and influencers. This update introduces tools to help users sort and filter their “message requests”—messages that aren’t directed to their main inbox based on user-defined settings.
These new features allow users to filter message requests by follower count, verified accounts, brands, creators, and other criteria, enabling creators to more easily identify high-priority messages that may be valuable for their business or relationships. Additionally, a “Story Replies” folder is being added to make it easier to access replies to stories in one location.
Instagram explained that the update responds to feedback from creators worldwide, who shared that managing DMs can be challenging.
“When you go to the requests inbox, it can feel overwhelming,” said Instagram head Adam Mosseri in a post. “So we’ve introduced ways to filter requests so you can focus on the messages you want to see,” he added. “There’s still much to do to improve the inbox experience for creators and requests,” Mosseri acknowledged, “but we hope this is a step in the right direction.”
Instagram says it will continue to invest in DMs over time.
The changes follow other inbox-related improvements Meta made earlier this week to WhatsApp, which now allows users to filter their chats by customised lists.
