Instagram has decided that typing words like a normal person is so 2024. The new 2025 energy? Drawing on your DMs like you’re back in kindergarten with a crayon and a lot of feelings.
Yup, Instagram just rolled out a feature that lets you draw directly on your private chats, because apparently, emojis, GIFs, voice notes, and memes weren’t expressive enough for your “LOL” and “you up?” messages.
If you’re one of the lucky few who already had it during testing, congrats. Please resist the urge to flex in the comments; we get it, you’re special.
When you open your Instagram DMs, there’s now a shiny new “Draw” option hiding under the little “+” icon next to your message bar. Tap it, and voilà, a set of doodle tools appears at the top of your screen. You can then scribble, underline, or draw little hearts (or rage scribbles) all over the chat.
You can also slap stickers anywhere on your messages now. Because if you weren’t already spending too much time decorating your Stories, Instagram just gave you another way to waste time, in private.
Here’s the catch, though: all your cute doodles and stickers eventually disappear as your chat moves on. So if you’re hoping to immortalize your Picasso-level sketch of a cat meme, sorry. It’s temporary, like your New Year’s resolutions.
So, why this random art class addition? Because DMs are now the new feed. Fewer people are posting publicly, and more are sliding into private chats, which means the algorithm gods have switched focus to what Instagram calls “Sends.”
Translation: Likes are boring. Shares and DMs are the new social currency. If someone sends your Reel to a friend, Instagram thinks you’re basically the next Spielberg.
That’s why Meta is stuffing DMs with features faster than a TikTok trend dies. They’re betting that more expressive, interactive messages will make people hang out longer in-app, and possibly forget that Threads still exist.
This new feature feels like one of those things people try once, laugh about, and never touch again. But hey, Instagram Notes (you know, that random status update thing that no one asked for) somehow became a hit with Gen Z. So maybe scribbling on chats will be their next obsession.
If you think about it, it’s kind of genius. Instead of texting “I’m mad,” you can just angrily draw flames over someone’s message. Emotional communication, but make it digital art.
And even if it doesn’t become the next viral craze, at least Instagram can say, “We tried,” before quietly replacing it with something else, probably AI-generated stickers that guess your mood based on how many Reels you’ve watched.
If you’re a social media marketer or creator, probably a little. These interactive tools usually start small and then evolve into engagement metrics that matter later. Anything that makes users spend more time messaging could mean more algorithm weight on DMs and private shares.
So next time you send your listing video, your product promo, or your “pls like my post” message, maybe add a doodle arrow pointing to it for good measure.
Instagram says the feature starts rolling out today. If you don’t have it yet, don’t panic, it’s probably coming soon. Or maybe Meta’s still deciding if your account deserves the crayons.
Either way, prepare for a new era of DMs- part chat, part art project, part chaos.
