Instagram finally lets you share your location in real time in DMs

Instagram updated its DM functionality on Monday. You can now share your live location with pals, which is useful for meeting up at concerts or other crowded areas. The social network now allows you to add nicknames in one-on-one or group conversations, and there are over 300 new stickers to share in direct messages.

You can enable the new location-sharing feature for up to an hour. It is only visible to persons in your private DMs (one-on-one or group), and locations cannot be forwarded to anybody outside the chat. The functionality is off by default, and enabling it will result in a "You are sharing your location" indicator at the top of each message thread. You can also disable manual sharing at any time.

Nicknames allow you to create aliases for yourself or friends within DMs. "Share an inside joke with a nickname, or simplify lengthy usernames so your friends are easier to recognise," Instagram's introduction blog post says.

The nicknames are only visible in your DMs, not anywhere else on the platform. You can alter your username at any moment, as well as specify which people in a chat have permission to do so. To create a moniker, hit the chat name at the top of your conversation, then "Nicknames" and select the username you wish to change.

Finally, Instagram released 17 additional DM sticker sets, bringing the total number of available stickers to almost 300. You can favourite stickers those you like, as well as those shared by your friends.