Instagram on Friday announced updates to DM, its direct message inbox, that will improve the experience for creators, influencers, and other people who receive a high volume of inbound messages. Now, the app is introducing a tool that allows users to sort and filter “message requests,” or messages that don't arrive in the main inbox, based on user-set controls.
New tools will allow users to sort and filter message requests by number of followers, verified accounts, brand, creator, and other factors. This allows authors to better identify high-priority messages that may need to be responded to because they may impact the author's business or relationships.
Image credit: Instagram
Additionally, we've added a new “Story Replies” folder, giving you access to your story replies in one place.
The company said the change was introduced after hearing from creators around the world how difficult it was to manage their direct mail.
“Going through your request inbox can sometimes be very overwhelming,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a post on the social network. “So what we've done is added a way to filter those requests and see just what you're looking for,” he continued. “We still have a lot of work to do to improve the creator and request inboxes,” Mosseri acknowledged. “But we hope this is a step in the right direction.”
Image credit: Instagram
“Sort and Filter” options appear in an overlay at the top of the inbox, allowing users to choose to sort requests by recency or number of followers of the sender, highlighting messages that may be from other creators Helpful to display. Brands to contact about business deals. Additionally, you can turn other options on or off to further filter what you see by factors such as whether the account is verified, business, creator account, or account with a certain number of subscribers.
Instagram says it will continue to invest in DM.
This change follows other inbox-related improvements that Meta made to WhatsApp earlier this week, allowing users to filter chats with a customized list.