Live Stream Video is the new big thing: with lockdowns having no end in sight, people are replacing in-person interactions with live video hangouts – a trend that Instagram doesn’t want to sleep on.
Inspired by Zoom’s rapid rise in popularity over lockdown, Instagram is starting to explore new ways users can interact with each other in real time.Â
In her show A Little Late with Lily Singh, popular YouTuber Lily Singh interviews Adam Mosseri – the Head of Instagram – who reveals that the company will be rolling out a new feature that will enable multi-participants on Instagram Live. The launch is set to take place within the next few weeks.
Mosseri states in the interview:
“We have been working on live groups – finally…We’re releasing the ability to go live with more than one other person, so with up to four other people, in the next couple of weeks, which we’re really excited about”.
Instagram has been working on this for almost a year. In December, the company began testing the group Live Stream feature in India – a clear effort to capitalize on the country’s nationwide TikTok ban.
This new feature could offer users a more diverse set of ways to engage with their audience: for example, influencers could conduct live interviews or invite fans to join a discussion over livestream.
It will be exciting to see how brands and influencers utilize this new tool within their larger content strategies on Instagram.