Instagram is experimenting with a community chat feature that lets users gather in groups of up to 250. Meta’s photo- and video-sharing network is prototyping the feature internally, though external sources with knowledge of it are comparing it to Discord since it reportedly allows users to form chats around different topics and control who can join. While participation is said to be capped at 250 simultaneous users per community, all are invited to join and message. Instagram has had a flurry of new features, among them a video tool called Edits, and “profile cards” geared toward small businesses that want a more professional presence on the app.

“The so-far unreleased feature was spotted by developer Alessandro Paluzzi, who has a solid track record of uncovering new features within Meta’s apps,” writes Engadget, noting Paluzzi has shared screenshots of the in-development app on Threads.

In prototype form, the feature lets individual users form chats around narrow topics and interests, affording control over who can join.

Community Chats on Instagram “could open the doors for the same kind of group chatter as you would find across Telegram channels and Discord,” reports Digital Trends, which notes that “it won’t be a no-holds-barred chat zone.”

While both Telegram and Discord are moderated to a degree, they both offer a fairly permissive environment. Both have decentralized moderation, with admins and moderators setting their own rules. Each Discord server is a private community. On Telegram they can be set to public or private.

Paluzzi’s screenshots indicate “admins can remove messages or members to ‘keep the channel safe,’” ZDNet writes, adding that Instagram parent Meta Platforms “will ‘also review Community Chat[s] against our Community Standards.’”

“Once a community chat is established, the creator will be offered the choice to keep it gated so that only approved users can join the chat,” Digital Trends notes, explaining that “just like broadcast channels, users will be able to advertise their Community Chats on the profile page and channel.”

Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp all added community chat features in recent years.