InstagramBook Live: Go Live with a Friend
As of late, it is kind of hard to tell where one social media platform begins and another ends.
Thanks to the unspoken rule that all social media sites need to have exactly the same features as their counterparts, Instagram announced a new “live videos” feature that will let you post joint live videos to your story.
How it Works
Previous iterations of Instagram let you go live whenever you wanted to—much like almost every other major social media platform (sorry, Twitter)—and then post the resulting video to your Instagram Stories feature. This new update adds the ability to pull a friend who is currently watching your live stream into the video with you.
When you initiate an Instagram live stream, you’ll see a pair of smiley faces in the corner of the screen.
Tapping this icon will give you the option to select a member from the audience, which will add them to your stream for the rest of the audience to see.
Once you’ve finished entertaining the audience member, you can dismiss them from the stream. They’re also able to leave at any time during the stream.
Phone a Friend
You can still post the live video to your Instagram story like you usually would, including the section with your friend in it.
Instagram users will then be able to go to your video and view it for up to 24 hours after you post it.
The minor caveat that your friend must actively be a part of your stream audience to be invited will likely trip up some users to begin with, but this also makes it easier for Instagram streamers to pull random members from their audience during things like Q&A streams or product seminars.
Points for Convenience
One of the cooler aspects of this new feature is it provides a built-in way for users to collaborate and interact with their respective fanbases—all without having to leave the Instagram home page.
This is a level of convenience that no social media platform has quite reached yet; despite the blatant continuation of the live fad, Instagram certainly appears to be making a positive and impactful addition to the field.
As of right now, only a handful of Instagram users have access to the joint live feature. However, Instagram promises to roll out the feature gradually for all Instagram users in the coming months.
#InstagramLive
