Instagram seems to be testing direct messaging on web

There’s no dearth of messaging platforms on the web, but Instagram DMs have likely become a big part of your online life.

A prototype, spotted by software engineer Jane Manchun Wong, shows the platform making moves toward making its direct messaging service, Direct, accessible via your browser.

Given how many of our interactions happen on Instagram these days, it makes sense to make Direct available outside of the app. If it turns out to be a thing, Direct appears to be available for both desktop and mobile.

Shortly after posting the screenshots, Wong added on Twitter access to the direct messaging feature was disabled. You might remember Instagram also has broken out Direct in its own app.

Launched in 2013, Instagram’s web version has been much more feature-sparse in comparison to the app. You can’t upload posts for one, and while you can like and comment on posts, you can’t react or message in response to Stories.

The prototype comes a few weeks after Facebook revealed it was looking to unify the backend of Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. 

That would help make sending messages across these platforms easier, but it raises regulation and privacy questions, and is a significant departure from the independence that was a sacrosanct part of these different platforms.

Mashable has contacted Instagram for comment.