San Francisco, Apr 11 (IANS): Facebook-owned Instagram has rolled out a new feature where people can send direct messages from their web browser globally.

The photo-sharing service has been testing web DMs with a small group of users since January this year.

"Sliding into your DMs. Now you can get and send Instagram Direct messages on desktop, no matter where you are in the world," the company posted on Twitter on Friday.

Since the test began, Instagram made small updates to more closely mimic DMs on the app, like including the emoji keyboard and adding a gallery view to photos and videos, reports The Verge.

Web DMs are convenient for those who use Instagram all the time, like journalists, social media influencers and managers.

DMs on the web browser can be seen it in the top-right corner of the website. You can also go directly to your inbox from this link.

DMs can be initiated via other users' profiles by tapping on the message icon. Desktop notifications can also be activated for Instagram Direct DMs.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently told The New York Times that "private messaging, groups, and Stories" were the "three fastest-growing areas of online communication".