The parade of all-new features for Instagram continues unabated. On Thursday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Facebook that Instagram channels are rolling out now, giving users the ability to share news and updates with thousands of followers at once. In order to demonstrate the new feature, Zuckerberg started up a Meta channel where he said he would share the company’s product news first. You can join that channel from your mobile device.
Instagram’s new channels are now available
According to the CEO’s first messages in the Meta channel, Instagram channels will support text, images, polls, reactions, and more. Channel operators will be able to invite guests to collaborate with and host AMAs in the future. In addition to Instagram, Zuckerberg revealed that channels are coming to Facebook and Messenger as well in the coming months.
When you visit a broadcast channel on Instagram, you’ll see all the messages the channel owner has posted. Much like with a Facebook status, you can long-press on a message to react with an emoji. You can tap a button to see the details of the channel, including any shared posts or media, and there’s also an invite link to the channel you can share.
The company chose a handful of creators to launch channels alongside Meta today. Olympic Gold Medalist Mikaela Shiffrin, AI and AR creator Karen Cheng, meme maker George Resch (aka Tank Sinatra), and a handful of UFC fighters all have their own channels.
