What is the new Instagram post icon and why it appears

Instagram direct messages paper plane is gone and is now replaced by a more typical icon of a messaging application. More precisely, from for another Facebook instant messaging app which is not WhatsApp.

And, as we reported a few weeks ago, Instagram direct messaging has transformed on Facebook Messenger. This is why many users of the app have started to see how the Instagram paper plane icon is replaced with the Facebook Messenger icon.

This is the new Instagram posts icon.

In recent years, we have known that Facebook has been considering merging its main messaging platforms into one. However, it was only a few weeks ago that the company launched its master plan.

And it is now possible to chat with people on Facebook Messenger via direct messages from Instagram, and vice versa. In this way, it is possible to see the red bubble with the unread messages, whether they come from Instagram or Messenger.

So if the next time you open Instagram you find a very different icon than the original in the direct messages tab, don't worry. Although this is a seemingly irreversible change, the only thing that will change for you - beyond the icon - is that you can now chat with your Facebook Messenger contacts without leaving Instagram.