Instagram Messaging: Communicating in MOMENTS

13 Dec Instagram Messaging: Communicating in MOMENTS

In the next week, Instagram is gearing up to launch a messaging implementation within its app.  As of right now, the pervasive app consists of a photo stream, comments, and basic tagging of friends.  It’s pretty simple, easy to digest, and visually-centric, which makes it the perfect recipe for social media success.  Businesses have certainly caught onto the effectiveness of its use, marketing strategic visual marketing campaigns cross industry.   Now, the advent of this private messaging might create an even more lucrative outlet for businesses.

However, this messaging has been rumored to mirror the likes of Snap Chat:

Messaging MOMENTS.

What do we mean by this?  Well, in case you aren’t privy to using Snap Chat, we’ll fill you in.  Snap Chat, which features 15-second videos/8-second photos that vanish after the sender’s chosen allotment of time, has surged on the social media scene.  Apparently, messaging in “moments,” as it were, has become a responsive and authentic means of communicating digitally. 

Perhaps the greater response seems to be the following: There is something compelling, exciting, and honest about sending/receiving messages that are short-lived and unable to be saved. 

What Will This Mean for Instagram?

The vanishing messages will more than likely mimic the interface of most other messaging apps and platforms.  The vanishing message works so well because it encompasses real-life communication on a basic, conversational level.  We like that these messages are short, to the point, and then go away because that’s, presumably, how most of our communication is structured in real life.

The controversy, if any, seems to be surrounded by the fact that this informal, immediate style conversation caters to TEENS.  However, it might even be the pervasion of social media in general, that has aided in this communication shift.  Instagram’s short-lived messaging might be beneficial for business and recreational use.  However, the vanishing message is not definite at this point. 

In any case, the trajectory of our methods of communication demands some contemplation at the very least.