More and more engagement on Instagram is moving to DMs, where Instagram is now attempting to lean into with new features like Notes, which are aligned with more private sharing.

And it's also experimenting with an even bigger shift in this regard with some users now viewing the new messaging icon in the bottom function bar in the app.
some of the users do report seeing that the icons for messaging and creation of posts in the core interface are swapped round, so that the '+' creation button is at the top right, while the messaging paper plane has been emphasized in the center of the lower functional panel.

That obviously shifts the focus toward DM sharing, versus feed posting; but could prove yet another step toward aligning with this usage shift, and driving user behaviors toward engagement with their connections.

Which, as noted, is occurring in any case.

As far back as 2022, when users complained that they were no longer seeing stories from the accounts they follow in the app, Instagram head Adam Mosseri responded to this, saying
"Friends post a lot more to stories and send a lot more DMs than they post to Feed."
Mosseri's emphasized this trend since then.
Last month, when announcing new features for messaging, Mosseri said:

"When you think of Instagram, you probably think of a feed of square photos. But how Instagram works has changed a lot over the years, and if you look at what people share, and how people express their creativity, the primary way they do so is actually DMs on Instagram. More photos and videos are shared in DMs than are to Stories or to feed on any given day."

So, now engagement between users is becoming a significant channel with the main feed becoming more of a stream of recommended entertainment as in TikTok.

And hence, this shift could make sense in aligning with that shift, though, for sure, it would be a major shift of focus for the app and affect user behaviors.

Perhaps, IG can experiment by introducing this format only for the people who never post but often share via DMs. The application will align with the usage behavior of such people
It's a dangerous gamble, but on the other hand, the creation icon is instantly accessible, and Instagram won't take away any functionality from them
Behavioral impacts could be enormous, though.
Which, I suppose, is what IG is trying to sort out now, with the help of this first test. We reached out to Instagram for more information about the test and their plans for this update. We will update this post if/when we hear back.