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21st Nov 2016

Instagram launches new live broadcast option, with one unique feature

The latest social media platform to introduce live broadcasts

Simon Lloyd

Live video broadcasts are all the rage on social media these days, so it’s not a massive surprise to learn that Instagram are getting in on the act.

Following the lead of its owners, Facebook, as well as YouTube and Twitter, Instagram has now released its own feature which will allow its users to broadcast live whenever they wish. Viewers can react using emojis or comment, as is usually the case with this sort of thing.

There is, however, one significant difference with Instagram’s new feature that sets it apart from many of the other social media platforms’ live broadcast options.

Instagram users will discover that as soon as their broadcast is finished, it will vanish. That’s right: gone forever.

A spokesperson for Instagram explained that the purpose of this is “so you can feel comfortable sharing what you want, anytime”.

The new feature isn’t available to everyone just yet, although a select group of users will be using it in the weeks ahead. After that, it’s expected to be extended to everyone with an Instagram account.

The new feature comes months after Instagram introduced Stories, in which users can post a series of videos and photos and decorate them with words and emoji, similarly to how they might use Snapchat.

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