Instagram Adds GIFs to Direct Messages; Spotted Testing Feed Reposts, Secret Hashtags, and Geofencing

Facebook-owned image and video sharing platform Instagram on Thursday announced the extension of GIF support into the Direct Messages (DM) section of the app. A collaboration with Giphy previously enabled the support of GIF-based messages in Instagram Stories, and now users can utilise them in Direct Messages on the Instagram app available on Android and iOS. Additionally, Instagram has also been spotted testing three new features - one that will allow users to repost content right on their feeds, another that will enable the ability to add secret hashtags to posts, and then one which can be used to restrict the reach of posts depending on region.

Starting off with the feature that has been made public, GIFs can now be sent natively on Instagram Direct Messages. Users can search from Giphy's diverse database to select the perfect GIF to send, or they can send a random GIF using the "random" option above the keyboard.

Next, Instagram has been spotted testing a new "regram" feature, according to a report by The Verge. Codenamed "seamless sharing" internally, the ability to repost content onto your Instagram feed, not just Stories, might be coming to the platform soon. A new "share to feed" option will reportedly appear in the top-right corner of every post allowing users to instantly share content from other feeds, with due credit.

Screenshots obtained by The Verge revealed these features on business accounts, leading us to believe that Instagram might first test it out with that category of users. Resharing is still in early development and might just get shelved even before it takes off. Instagram Co-Founder Kevin Systrom in a statement to Wired last year, said that resharing has been debated a lot internally and the company is finding ways to implement it soon enough.

Two other Instagram features have been spotted in testing, both by developer Jane Manchun Wong. The first one involves the ability to secretly add hashtags to a post without cluttering the image/ video caption. As per a screenshot shared by Wong, the hashtags will be shown right next to the location mentioned in the post, in a manner that makes them good for minimal viewing.

Photo Credit: Twitter/ Jane Manchun Wong

She spotted another upcoming feature that will allow creators to limit the countries and/ or regions where specific content will be visible. Users will be able to select these regions from the "Choose Locations" option in the Story Controls menu.