You can go live to your Close Friends on Instagram now
A new feature just launched on Instagram, and it's about to make Close Friends way closer.
On Thursday, the Meta-owned app introduced the ability to restrict your live broadcast to your Close Friends list only. You can still go live with up to three people, but they must all be in your Close Friends circle.
It's cool to be able to control who sees what you post in any format, but I'm unsure what this might be used for specifically. Instagram told TechCrunch that users could use it to "share what’s on your mind, spontaneously catch up with friends, share memes, plan trips, do homework together, or just hang out casually in real-time."
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But there are already really great apps and platforms out there that allow you to do those things better. We share memes and plan trips in group chats, we do homework together over FaceTime, and we hang out casually in real life in real-time. So, this new update does feel somewhat like a solution looking for a problem.
Live broadcasts, a feature that was launched in 2016, are predominantly used by public figures, celebrities, and influencers to connect with fans. Regular users don't really use the feature much because it implies an immediacy that isn't always a natural parking with the platform. It seems like the platform is betting on the change, enticing regular folks to use the feature as social media users become more and more interested in individualized and private ways to connect.
If you want to try it out for yourself, click the "+" button to share on Instagram and scroll over to live. At the top of your screen, it will say something like "Share with Followers" with a down arrow. Click that, choose "Close Friends," and start recording to go live.
Christianna Silva is a senior culture reporter covering social platforms and the creator economy, with a focus on the intersection of social media, politics, and the economic systems that govern us. Since joining Mashable in 2021, they have reported extensively on meme creators, content moderation, and the nature of online creation under capitalism.
Before joining Mashable, they worked as an editor at NPR and MTV News, a reporter at Teen Vogue and VICE News, and as a stablehand at a mini-horse farm. You can follow her on Bluesky @christiannaj.bsky.social and Instagram @christianna_j.
