If you’ve been looking to share live video with your friends on Instagram, your wish has just been granted. Instagram announced that the new live Instagram Stories video feature is now rolling out to all users globally.
All you need to do to get Instagram Stories working on your iPhone or Android device is to update your app to version 10.0 and above. Once that’s done, you’re a swipe away from going live. Simply swipe right from the main feed view and choose “Start Live Video” in the camera.
When you’re done broadcasting, the live story will disappear from the app. Even though Instagram belongs to Facebook, this particular live-streaming feature is unlike what’s available with Facebook Live. Facebook will archive videos and they’ll be still available to watch after each livestream has ended. Instagram will just delete the videos. Of course, it’s likely that some folks will find ways to preserve videos.
Instagram said on its blog that the new live streaming feature will roll out globally over the next week, but it already appears as though all US-based users can access it.
Watching someone else’s live streams on Instagram is just as easy. All you have to do is to go to the Top Live option on Explore and connect to any of the available live stories in the list. Naturally, you won’t be watch to follow your friends’ live sessions unless you’re on Instagram when they broadcast. If you do happen to catch one, it’ll be listed at the top of the main feed before all of the normal Instagram stories. You can also configure the app to notify you anytime one of your friends it broadcasting live.
Instagram’s new live feature further blurs the lines between Instagram and Snapchat, which is one of Facebook’s biggest rivals. It’s up to you to choose where to spend your time.
