Splitting Instagram Direct into its own messaging app might be a big mistake

Stop me if you've heard this one before: A popular app is splitting one of its fastest growing features into its own app.

Facebook made this exact type of decision when it broke out direct messaging into the Messenger app two years ago. This time, Instagram is doing the same for users in select countries with a new app called Direct.

Instagram is testing a standalone messaging app in Chile, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, and Uruguay based on its direct messaging feature, according to The Verge. Sources have told Mashable that the Direct app has been tested internally for a least the last month and a half. Read more...