Instagram Announces New Changes Including “Live Video”

Big Changes to Instagram will make business owners happy when it comes to online marketing and promotional purposes.

 

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Instagram has announced several new changes to its popular photo-based social media networking platform. While these changes affect all users, they are particularly important for business owners and brands.

If you use Instagram for promotional and/or marketing purposes, you should take note of these changes and how they will affect your campaigns.

 

One of the most notable changes to Instagram is the addition of live video on Stories. Basically, this is a live-streaming service that allows users to share content instantly with their friends and followers, in real-time (hence the name, live video).

 

Live video on Instagram Stories helps you connect with your friends and followers right now. When you’re done, your live story disappears from the app so you can feel more comfortable sharing anything, anytime,” explained Instagram when announcing the new feature.

 

To use Instagram’s new live video feature, swipe right from the feed to open the camera and tap the “Start Live Video” button. Whenever you create a live video, your friends will receive a notification automatically. All live videos are marked with the “Live” tag under the user’s respective profile photo in their story bar. Keep in mind, however, that live video sessions are limited to 60 minutes. Most users will never record live video sessions this long, but it’s still something you should be aware of.

 

In addition to live video, Instagram has also announced disappearing photos and videos for groups and friends for Instagram Direct.

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Instagram Direct has quickly grown from just a small user base of 80 million to a staggering 300 million users. In an effort to keep up with this growth, the social media network is looking for new features, such as the addition of disappearing photos and videos.

 

When you send a photo or video to another user through Direct private messaging, that content will eventually disappear from the recipient’s inbox. Of course, this is in stark contrast to traditional private messages (outside of Direct), which are permanent and do not automatically disappear unless deleted by the recipient.

 

Also, you can only send disappearing photos and videos to users who follow you. If someone isn’t following you, you cannot send them a disappearing message.

 

These are just a few of the latest changes coming to Instagram. Business owners and brands should experiment with disappearing photos and videos, as well as live video. These otherwise simple features could prove useful in boosting your brand visibility on social media.