Instagram Tests New Placement of the DM Button within the Main UI

Instagram’s expanding its test of an alternative placement of the message icon in the main app UI, as DMs continue to see more usage in the app.

As you can see in this example (posted by @novellearts), some users are now seeing the DM icon in the middle of the bottom function bar in the app. Which is currently where the “+” creation button is for regular posts, but according to IG chief Adam Mosseri, people are now messaging a lot more than they share feed updates.

As per Mosseri:

“Messaging is used a lot more than the create button, so we’re testing putting DMs in both in the middle position, and in position two where you can still swipe over to it. We’ll see how it goes.”

So some people are seeing the DM icon in the middle, while others are seeing it in the second spot in the lower function bar.

Or they may be seeing a different variation of the DM icon:

This version was spotted in testing back in July, so the experiment in moving the DM icon has actually been live for some time, though it’s now seemingly being expanded to more users.

Which, as per Mosseri’s note, make sense. Over time, more and more social media interactions have switched to DMs instead, with Mosseri noting this shift back in 2022.

Which is why Instagram has been working to lean into this change, by also adding new elements like inbox Notes to encourage more DM interaction, and making it easier to share posts via DMs.

Because while messaging may not feel like the main focus of IG, it now kind of is.

Again, as per Mosseri, in an announcement earlier this year:

“When you think of Instagram, you probably think of a feed of square photos. But how Instagram works has changed a lot over the years, and if you look at what people share, and how people express their creativity, the primary way they do so is actually DMs on Instagram. More photos and videos are shared in DMs than are to Stories or to feed on any given day.”

So more than what Mosseri noted in 2022, DMs are actually now the primary channel for engagement between users, with the main feed becoming more of a TikTok-like stream of recommended entertainment.

As such, the change probably makes sense, even if it does seem a little unusual. It might not actually be necessary, but maybe it helps to fuel already rising behaviors.