Over time, more and more engagement on Instagram is shifting to DMs, which Instagram is now trying to lean into with new features like Notes, that are aligned with more private sharing.

And it’s also experimenting with an even more significant change in this respect, with some users now seeing a new messaging icon in the lower function bar in the app.

As you can see in this example, posted by Jasmine Enberg, some users are seeing the messaging and post creation icons switched in the main UI, with the ‘+’ creation button moved to the top right, and the messaging paper plane highlighted at the center of the lower function panel.

That clearly puts the focus on DM sharing, as opposed to feed posting, and it could be another step towards aligning with this usage shift, while also guiding user behaviors towards engagement with their connections.

Which, as noted, is happening either way.

Back in 2022, in response to user concerns that they were no longer seeing updates from the profiles that they follow in the app, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri noted that:

“Friends post a lot more to stories and send a lot more DMs than they post to Feed.”

Mosseri has underlined trend this several times since.

Earlier this year, in an announcement about new messaging features, Mosseri explained that:

“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 DMs are now the primary channel for engagement between users, with the main feed becoming more of a TikTok-like stream of recommended entertainment.

As such, this change could make sense, in aligning with this shift, though it would also be a significant change of focus for the app, which could impact user behaviors.

Maybe, IG could look to roll out this format only to people who never post, but share a lot in DMs, aligning the app with their personal usage behaviors.

In some ways, it’s a risky move, but then again, the creation icon is still easily accessible, so it’s not like Instagram would be taking away any functionality.

But even so, the behavioral impacts could be big.

Which, I guess, is what IG is now trying to work out with this initial test. We’ve asked Instagram for more information on the test, and what its plans are for this update, and we’ll update this post if/when we hear back.