Instagram Confirms That It Is Adding Live Videos To Its App

Live videos are becoming a lot more common on social media especially with Facebook launching its own platform this year. Now, Instagram is planning to do the same as its CEO recently confirmed that they are working on adding live videos to its app.

“Live is really exciting for us. I think it can enhance what we’re doing,” Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom told the Financial Times. “If I’m trying to strengthen relationships with someone I love, them streaming video to me live would be an amazing way to be closer to them.”

The Instagram CEO didn’t give out any details on how they plan on implementing live videos, nor did he say anything on when it will become available. A few weeks ago, however, screenshots of what appears to be a live video on Instagram was leaked by the Russian news site T Journal.

The leaked screenshots show that live videos will be integrated within Instagram Stories, the Snapchat-like feature that allows users to post photos and videos that will disappear in 24 hours. One of the leaked screenshots also shows that Stories carousel on top of the Instagram app will be labeled “LIVE” when a user is currently broadcasting. Users will be able to go live by tapping on a red button labeled “Go Insta!”

T Journal claims that the feature is currently being tested. This means that live videos on Instagram may look or function very differently once it’s officially launched to all users.

With Instagram currently working on its own live video feature, it’s clearly following its parent company’s lead. Facebook Live is already proving popular among its users. The company claims that users watch live videos a lot longer compared to non-live videos.

Perhaps Facebook wants to achieve the same thing with how users consume videos on Instagram. It’s possible that Instagram live videos could somehow be integrated into Facebook, but there’s no evidence of that happening just yet, as pointed out by The Next Web.

That being said, live videos appear to be a logical feature to add on Instagram. The service has always been about sharing moments with friends and family.