CEO Kevin Systrom confirmed that Instagram is working on a live video feature. The news broke out after it is being tested that was featured in T Journal, a Russian news site.
In an interview with Financial Times yesterday, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom talked about the company's desire of adding a new live video feature to its app. "Live is really exciting for us. I think it can enhance what we're doing. 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," said Systrom.
Although Systrom didn't disclose any more details as to when the new live video would be available or how it works, Russian publication T Journal posted some screenshots in its report, as reported by The Verge. The screenshots show that live streams from people that a user follows will appear highlighted in red at the top of the app in the "stories" carousel.
In Aug. 2, Instagram launched the 24-hour Instagram stories feature that allows users to share photos and videos, which will disappear after 24 hours and won't appear on the user's profile grid or in their feed. It was a hit despite the competition between visual media apps such as Snapchat, Facebook and YouTube. It seems that live video feature plays an important role in the ongoing rivalry between these apps.
On the other hand, Facebook has been very optimistic with its live video feature since its release where users watch live videos longer rather than watching non-live videos not to mention that Facebook has acquired Instagram in 2012. So, it wouldn't be too much of a news once Instagram goes live with its new live video feature very soon.
Instagram is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos and share them either publicly or privately on the app, as well as through a variety of other social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.
