Instagram will now let you schedule direct messages, as first reported by TechCrunch. With this feature, you can long-press on the “send” button and then choose a date and time that you’d like to send your message.
As noted on Instagram’s support page, you can schedule messages containing only text, meaning you can still only send photos, videos, or GIFs to friends or family members in real-time. When you click on a chat with a scheduled message, Instagram will display a notice that shows how many messages you have scheduled.