In a bid to compete with up and coming photo sharing platforms, Instagram, the Facebook-owned photo sharing media platform, is upgrading its menu of services to include send images and messages privately. In a report in MSN.com, the social media platform seeks to entice the younger set to use their options as the demand for mobile messaging applications increase exponentially.
The new features are called Instagram Direct. It would allow users to privately message and send images directly to a fellow user. The feature allows one user to communicate with up to fifteen other users in text conversations in real time.
Instagram, according to a report in Reuters, says it has around 150 million monthly users. As of the report, the media platform has shared nearly 16 billion images. The previous service had the images for public view by anyone utilizing the service.
The unveiling of the new Instagram user features comes at the heels of another image online sharing service, Snapchat, hiring Emily White as its new COO. Before coming on board, Emily Chat was a member of Instagram's executive board, according to a Fox Business report.
There were rumors abound that Facebook had offered Snapchat $3 billion to buy it out, which the start up declined. Back in 2012, Facebook Inc., bought Instagram for $1 billion. The move also bolsters rumors that Snapchat would be conducting an IPO sometime soon.
The new features were unveiled by Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom, who said in a report on CNet.com, "If we were about photography, we'd be built into cameras. But we're not built into cameras. We're built into phones." He made the remarks during a press conference in New York last Thursday.
On its official blog, Instagram wrote, "There are moment in our lives that we want to share but that will be the most relevant only to a smaller group of people."