Instagram: New update brings Live video and disappearing posts

Instagram continues to work on its Stories and has now dealt what it hopes is a lethal blow to Snapchat: with the Android app update rolled out at the end of last year you can send messages and private videos that disappear upon viewing. But things don’t stop there: Instagram Stories has also started allowing live videos that can only be played when they’re being broadcast. Snapchat and Periscope are probably a teeeensy bit pissed off about all this.

These new features from Instagram confirm the company’s attempt to beat the competition at their own game. We talked here about Instagram Stories when it first came out and now they’ve taken another step to embrace the fleeting and try to knock out their rivals. These photo or video messages can be sent to both individual and group recipients. Once viewed, they’ll disappear from the receiving inbox (though the recipients can still respond to them).

Though this move from Instagram could be expected, the new feature is even more surprising: Instagram Live. With it users can now broadcast live videos to all their followers. Non-followers can also view the broadcasts via the Explore tab in the same way as with Instagram Stories. These videos disappear once the broadcast ends and can’t be saved. This is where they differ from Facebook Live and get closer to apps like Periscope. Users who view these live broadcasts can interact with comments or add hearts.

These recent moves from Instagram are working out very nicely. The app is being constantly updated and constantly integrates more and more options. While recently it allowed us to integrate mentions in videos and use the popular boomerang mode organically, the new features from Instagram Stories are an even bigger deal. These features will get progressively rolled out over the next days and we can talk our hearts out about their impact on the competition.

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