Instagram adds live video, vanishing messages to pressure Snapchat
- By AFP -
- Nov 22, 2016
“Send anything you want, from inside jokes to your worst selfies,” Instagram said in a blog post.
“Unlike other messages in Direct, these photos and videos disappear from your friends’ inboxes after they have seen them.”
The updates appeared aimed at getting people to use Instagram more for casual, quirky moments instead of seeing it as a platform for sharing life highlights or polished posts meant to linger.
“Now, you can send disappearing photos and videos directly to groups and individual friends in a spontaneous, pressure-free way,” Instagram said.
The option to broadcast live on Instagram follows in the footsteps of a Facebook Live feature, and is a challenge to Twitter real-time video streaming service Periscope.
Instagram live video broadcasts are not saved, so can only be viewed while they are taking place “so you can feel more comfortable sharing anything, anytime,” according to the photo and video sharing service.
Instagram sad that more than 300 million of its approximately half-a-billion users around the world use its Direct messaging monthly.
Live Video on Instagram Stories from Instagram on Vimeo.
Facebook last week said that it has bought facial recognition startup FacioMetrics, potentially using the technology for photo or video effects to better challenge rival Snapchat.