Instagram reportedly adding private messages to compete with Snapchat

Slowly but surely, Instagram’s been adding features over the last few years — videos, web profiles, and an app for Windows Phone have been among the biggest additions to the app as of late. Now, according to a report from GigaOm, the company is planning its next major feature: private messaging. Before the end of the year, a new version of Instagram is expected to launch that contains both one-on-one and group messaging features. Aside from these features and a rough timeline, there weren’t any other details on this potential launch, but there’s no doubt that it’s a logical next step for Instagram. Photo comments on the service often include lively discussions between friends, and Snapchat has pretty conclusively proved the value of a private photo- and video-sharing network. While there’s no doubt Instagram has a vibrant and active community of its own, time will tell whether it can break some of the stranglehold Snapchat has amongst the picture-messaging crowd.