By now, we’re all decently familiar with Facebook and Messenger’s “Other” inbox – private messages that are filtered out based on spam detection and whether you’re friends with the sender.
Facebook’s other social network property, Instagram, also has a direct message inbox. While it may be arguably less-used, you may be surprised to know the “Other” inbox system is present here as well. Here’s how to find it.
First, go to your Instagram feed. Say hi to the new black and white UI if you recently updated the app.
Look to the upper right corner and hit the inbox icon. Don’t let the lack of unread numbers fool you – if you have messages in your filtered inbox, or “message requests” as IG calls them, you’ll see a blue bar at the very top.
Since Instagram accounts can be privatized, you may even get picture messages you can’t see unless you follow this person. Annoying, but at least you can quickly avoid and delete the bot accounts.
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It seems Facebook intentionally makes these filtered messages as buried as possible, but thanks to this mechanism, I now have to explain to my stepdad that I honestly didn’t see the message/photo he tagged and shared with me two weeks ago – not that I’m being an ungrateful brat. (Frankly, I’ve just learned my stepdad has an Instagram account.)
Find anything in your Instagram Other inbox? Hopefully you spot them in time to respond in a cordial manner.
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