Instagram is updating its Direct feature, launched in 2016, as a way for users to exchange messages privately, so people can “turn any conversation into a visual conversation with photos and videos.”

The Facebook-owned company also announced the number of people using Direct grew from 300 million to 375 million since its last update in November 2016, and after the success of Instagram Stories, it appears to be trying to one-up rival Snapchat.

Ephemeral photo and video messages will appear in the same thread as regular texts and photos, and one post can be sent to up to 15 people.

Users can reply to Instagram Stories, and these will last as long as the 24-hour Story is available. Unlike Snapchat, though, users can’t send disappearing text messages.

“Direct is our best friends experience, for just goofing around on the couch and sharing”, Instagram’s product lead for Sharing Robby Stein told TechCrunch.

The report added 85 per cent of a user’s Direct messages go to the same three people, with the average group size being two to three users. The news site noted it makes sense to put Instagram Stories’ stickers and overlaid text into Direct to improve the experience and make it better than SMS.