Instagram has debuted Live Stories worldwide, enabling more than 150 million daily users to share their updates on-the-fly.
Last year we reported that Instagram launched Live Stories, enabling users to enjoy making use of the service’s new Stories feature to broadcast their updates to the web.
Now, that update has begun rolling out worldwide, and chances are if you head into the app today you’ll be greeted with a Live broadcast right from your Discover feed.
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In an announcement posted on the official Instagram Blog, the company offered that “Today we‘re excited to share that live video on Instagram Stories ““ a new way to connect with your friends and followers right now ““ will be rolling out to our entire global community over the next week. From real-time makeup tutorials to live DJ sets, it‘s been exciting to watch as the community shares new sides of their lives.”
Live Stories joins Facebook Live as a part of the latter’s push into online video. While to some releasing a standalone video experience might seem a slight detraction from the content Facebook Live might offer, the strategy is sound; over more than 150 million daily users already make use of Instagram’s Stories feature.
That figure should keep the good folks at Snap Inc (Snapchat) up into the long hours of the night.
Users can begin broadcasting Instagram Live Stories by swiping right from the Discover feed and selecting Start Live Video. Unlike some live feeds preserved on Facebook and other social media channels, Instagram Live Stories will self-destruct the second a user concludes the broadcast.
Should users wish to explore live feeds from around the globe, they’ll be able to see trending live videos on top of the Explore menu.
Read: WhatsApp reportedly begins testing new Snapchat Stories-style feature, called Status
What are your thoughts? Do you plan on using Instagram Live Stories? Be sure to let us know your opinion in the comments below!
Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
