Instagram announced the global release of Live Stories on Tuesday.
Instagram Stories is described as “a new way to connect with your friends and followers right now”. The company explains that the new feature will allow for Instagram users to broadcast what they are doing in real time.
How does Instagram’s Live Stories work?
To get started using Instagram Live Stories you need to update your app to the latest 10.0 version and higher. Once you finish, all you have to do is swipe right from the main news feed view and click “Start Live Video”.
The number of people watching you appears at the top right of the screen. Comments appear at the bottom. Instagram has allowed users to add a comment on their livestream. In addition, you can hold a comment to pin it to the top of the live stream so viewers can easily see it.
Once you’re finish broadcasting, the live story will disappear from the app. While Facebook owns Instagram, Instagram Live Stories is nothing like Facebook Live. Facebook archives all live videos so users can watch what happened after each livestream has ended. While, Instagram will delete the livestream afterwards.
If you’re camera shy, then watching someone else’s Instagram livestream is even easier. All you have to do is click the “Top Live” button on the Explore page. Instagram will feature all of the popular live stories currently taking place. It’s important to note that you will not be able to watch your friends’ live video sessions unless, you are on Instagram at the same time they are broadcasting live. However, Instagram does allow you to configure the app to send your notifications as soon as one of your friends starts broadcasting live.
At the moment, the new live streaming feature is available to all US based users. The company plans on rolling out the new feature globally starting this week.
This news comes the same week after Snapchat released a list of new features. Earlier this week, Snapchat added updates to their app by adding a universal search bar, new animations, and bitmojis. In addition, Snapchat also updated their policies regarding their Discover section to prevent clickbait videos from appearing on the app.