Instagram Live is Finally Here

Following in the social media giant’s parent company Facebook, Instagram launches Instagram Live to the world on Monday.

As companies compete for millennials’ attention, more and more social media apps are turning to Live video features in order to embrace the moment and time users spend on the app. Snapchat is currently working on releasing a Live video feature, Twitter already has live video capabilities and Facebook is currently spending millions to teach and attract users to try out their Facebook Live feature. Now, on Instagram’s Live feature is available to US users.

Last November, Instagram announced a brand new feature available to all Instagram users. The new feature will allow users show their followers exactly what they are doing. In addition, Instagram released a feature the mirrors Twitter’s Periscope app, which allows for users to see what other people are doing Live. However, the biggest difference in Periscope and Instagram is Instagram’s algorithm will pick and choose what videos a particular user sees.

But what’s the difference between Instagram’s live video feature and Facebook’s Live? It will have to be Instagram’s “Top Live” section for users. The “Top Live” feature will allow for users to see a curated listed of the best content shared on the Instagram app. In addition, Live videos are not stored onto your Instagram account, therefore followers can only see what you are doing while you’re broadcasting.

Facebook is investing heavily in video sharing. A report by Mashable showed the social media giant is investing millions of dollars showcasing, teaching, and informing people how to use the Facebook Live feature. So much money has been spent that reports show the Facebook Live ad has been seen over a billion times.

However, the biggest problem facing Facebook and Instagram is the “intimidation factor” in which Facebook users are scared to go live and broadcast the details of their lives without, editing and filtering out what they want their friends to see.

The new Instagram features will soon become available to US users in the next few weeks.