Hasta La Creative!

Facebook was apparently hedging its bets in the background when it tried — and failed — to buy the ephemeral messaging service Snapchat. Today its prize 2012 acquisition, Instagram, announced that it’s launching its own take on a messaging service.

Instagram users can now send photos and videos directly to people who follow them. The sender and recipient can then converse in the comments underneath the piece of media, and push notifications containing the messages will appear if a user’s phone is locked. Media sent by people who users don’t follow will be sent to a “pending requests” box.

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom said that users are effectively already using the service to communicate specific ideas with each other. He also observed that half of the app’s more than 150 million users open it daily, which sounded like a jab at other messaging services. Snapchat, for example, doesn’t disclose how many users it has.

Continue reading at AdAge.com