Instagram just launched live video chat — and everyone else can watch
Instagram is far from still photos anymore. The app released a feature Tuesday where users can start a live video and then invite someone else to join in on-camera.
The live video appears in a split-screen mode, with the original creator of the video on top and the guest on the bottom. The user can invite any current viewer to join the broadcast by tapping an icon on the bottom right.
If you don't have access to the feature yet, don't freak out. Instagram is testing it with a small percentage of users and said it will introduce it globally over the coming months.
It's not about one-to-one private video chat, like you would do on FaceTime, Skype, or Snapchat (Instagram's number one enemy). Rather, the live video is available for all your followers to see in real time. Viewers can send hearts and comment on the video, as well.
Instagram, in a blog post, pitched the new feature as something for teens to use with their friends. "Now, you can hang out and go live together, whether you’re just doing homework or catching up on your day," the blog post reads.
But the feature will, for sure, be something that influencers (people who make it their job to broadcast on social media) will gravitate toward. That's bad news for Twitter's Periscope, YouNow, and any other platform that dared to compete with the giant that is Facebook.
The update is also a feature that Snapchat, the app that primarily competes with Instagram for millennials' attentions, doesn't have. Snapchat does offer video chat, but it's only viewable one-to-one. Users can also leave video and audio notes to each other.
These live videos can be saved to your phone and discarded or shared to your Snapchat, errr, Instagram Story. By the way, 250 million people are using Instagram Stories every day. At last count, Snapchat had under 200 million daily users.
Topics Facebook Instagram Snapchat Social Media
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
