Instagram hacks: How to set a nickname for your friend on Android, iOS

Instagram recently rolled out a new feature dubbed as Nickname that enables users to set a nickname or a pet name for their friends and family members in the Direct Messages or DMs section within the app. Users can not only set a nickname for their friends but also for themselves within the app.

Instagram says that nicknames only appear in a user's DM chats, and that they don't reflect anywhere else on the platform. Also, users' username does not get changed even as they set a nickname for themselves within a chat.

"By default this is set to people you follow, but you can also change this so only you can update your nickname," Instagram wrote in a post detailing this feature.

But there are several caveats to using this feature. First of all, nicknames are only reflected in the chats where they are changed, which includes both group chats and individual chats. Instagram notifies thes users when their nickname is added or edited in a chat. The company also says that the nicknames used are specific to the chats where they are changed and they do not reflect in other chats, say common groups, that a user might be in with another user. Also, users need to give permission to other users in a chat to be able to set and edit a nickname.

As Instagram's new Nicknames feature arrives in its Android and iOS apps, here's a step-by-step guide to using it.

Instagram hack: How to set a nickname in the app

Manage who can edit your nickname

Step 1: Tap Messenger icon in the top right corner of the feed.

Step 2: Now tap the conversation in your inbox wherein you want to set the nickname.

Step 3: Tap the chat name at the top.

Step 4: Tap the Nicknames option.

Step 5: Tap 'Change who can edit your Nickname' at the top.

Step 6: Tap 'Everyone in this chat' option.

How to set a nickname in Instagram

Step 1: Tap the DM icon in the top right corner of the feed.

Step 2: Tap the conversation in your inbox where you want to set the nickname.

Step 3: Tap the chat name at the top of the screen.

Step 4: Tap Nicknames.

Step 5: Tap the name of the person in the chat for whom you want to set the nickname.

Step 6: Enter a nickname.

Step 7: Tap Done in the top right corner.