It might be a bit late to the party, but Threads finally has a dedicated DM feature that’s independent from Instagram. The problem is, it’s really basic.
For now, you can only message people who you follow, and who follow you. It will also work for your mutual followers on Instagram even if you don’t follow each other on Threads—a reminder that Threads is really an Instagram product.
Starting a DM on Threads
After updating the app on iPhone or Android (or accessing the site on the web), you’ll see a new Messages icon in the bottom toolbar next to the Home button. Once you’re in the new Messages page, you can tap the “new message” button in the top right to start a chat. You can search for a profile, or choose one of the recommended options to start the conversation.
This Messages tab is the only way to start a new chat right now. You can’t DM someone directly from their profile, even if you both follow each other. However, you can now share a Threads post with any of your followers directly in a DM. When I share a Threads post with a friend, it shows up in the Threads DM window, instead of Instagram DM.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
Once you send a message, you can long-press it to Unsend it. You can also long-press messages to react to them, reply in-line, or copy them. But that’s about it. There’s no support for images, voice messaging, chat themes, or many of the common features baked into DMs and messaging apps these days.
Threads DM still needs a lot of work
As it stands, Threads DMs are quite limited. But there are a series features in the works you can look forward to, including:
-
Message Controls: The upcoming moderation feature will let you decide who can send you messages, and you can choose to limit DMs only to people who follow you on Threads or Instagram.
-
Message requests folder: A dedicated message requests folder for new messages will make sure that spam doesn’t land directly in your DMs.
-
Group messaging: Threads will enable group conversations in a later update.
-
Filters: Threads will also provide filters to find and respond to messages.
