Instagram adds live video in Stories, disappearing media in Direct messages

Instagram just keeps on adding features, especially recently since it's embarked on a mission to become the next Snapchat. Today the Facebook-owned service is announcing that live video capabilities are coming to its Stories section. When you're done with your broadcast the video will automatically disappear from the app.

Going live is as easy as swiping right from the feed to open the camera and then tapping the obvious Start Live Video button. You can broadcast for up to an hour. Your friends may be notified when you go live so they can tune in. While you're live, you can pin a comment for everyone to see, or even turn off comments if you want.

The new Top Live section in Explore will show you "exciting stories happening at the moment". This feature, along with the live video functionality itself, will be rolling out globally "over the next few weeks".

Next up, disappearing photos and videos are now a thing inside Instagram Direct. You can send disappearing media to individual friends as well as groups through Instagram's messaging section. The videos and photos will disappear from your friends' inboxes once they've seen them. You'll get notified if they replayed them or took a screenshot. You can only send disappearing media to people who follow you. This feature is rolling out globally starting today.

Instagram says more than 100 million accounts are already using Stories, while the Direct messaging section has over 300 million users each month. So these new additions to both should receive pretty quick adoption.

Source | Via