Instagram has been preparing to introduce live videos to its platform for a while. We told you about this last month and said that besides this, the company was also thinking of including a few other features that will help it compete with Snapchat.
If you have been waiting for Instagram live video, you are in luck as the feature is currently available to users in the United states. The feature started rolling out yesterday and as mentioned was only available to users in the US. With users in the US getting it, we expect the feature to be available to other markets very soon, even before the year ends. The company is rolling out the feature market-by-market probably to ensure its servers can handle the demand or it may just be testing it before making it available to all users.
Instagram live videos are part of the Stories feature and are more like Live videos that you get on Facebook. Facebook owns Instagram and the two might have shared ideas before this feature was included on Instagram. Live video is the next step for most social sites and Instagram doesn’t want to be left behind, Facebook and YouTube have been pushing this feature and other platforms will definitely join in with time.
Starting Live Videos on Instagram
To start broadcasting live on Instagram, you will have to switch over to the stories camera. When there, you will see the ‘Live’ option, toggle that and you are good to go. You will be able to share live moments with your friends but the video will disappear when you stop broadcasting. This means that people who want to view your live videos will have to be online when you are broadcasting, there is no way for them to come back to them later.
You will be able to search for live broadcasts that you can watch. This means that you will be able to find people you do not necessarily follow and view their live videos, so much for privacy. The Explore tab also has a new category called ‘Top Live’ where you will be able to see popular live broadcasts.
As mentioned above, this feature has started rolling out the feature in the US, no news as when it will be available to users in other parts of the world.
Also Read: Instagram Wants Companies to Sell Their Products Directly Via Its Platform