Meta Tries Out Messaging Capabilities for Threads!

As Meta’s messaging platform Threads crosses the 130 million user mark, users continue to raise one grievance: there is no direct messaging feature. But soon, a new messaging option could offer solace to those who yearn for direct messages within Threads. With the help of Instagram’s inbox, Meta has started testing messaging capabilities that will let users start new conversations directly from the Threads app.The former “mention” option on other users’ profiles has been replaced with a “message” button, as some Threads users have already noticed. According to the reports,Meta is testing the capability to send a message from Threads to Instagram.

There are concerns over Threads’ future integration because it still doesn’t have a separate inbox, even after this update. The head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has made clear again that he is in favor of merging the Instagram inbox into the Threads platform rather than having a separate inbox for Threads. A representative at Meta reiterated that DMs on Threads are not a part of this current testing.

The ability to send messages from Threads without switching to Instagram could simplify the messaging experience for users, even though it is not a complete direct message capability. But users will still need to navigate to the Instagram app in order to view and reply to these messages.
Mosseri has brought attention to the difficulties associated with maintaining separate inboxes. In a November post, he described the challenges: “If, in the end, we can’t make the Instagram inbox work for Threads, we’ll have a hard choice to make between (1) mirroring the Instagram inbox in Threads and dealing with notification routing weirdness, and (2) building a totally separate Threads inbox and dealing with the fact that you’ll have two redundant message threads with each of your friends with the same handles in two different apps.”