Last month Instagram announced that they would be releasing the Live feature for its users. The release enabled the feature for some, and if you weren’t part of the group that had the feature enabled for them, not to worry as Instagram has since announced that the Live feature is now available to all Instagram users in the US.
For those wondering about the feature, you might recall that a few months ago Instagram confirmed that they were testing out a live feature where users could upload live video streams. This is similar to Facebook Live except that it’s designed for Instagram’s platform and would appear in the Instagram Stories section.
However unlike Instagram photos or Stories which can be accessed by tapping on your Instagram profile photo, Live videos will not be stored. This means that if your followers miss out on your live stream or join in halfway, they will not be able to rewatch what happened earlier. This is a bummer as platforms like YouTube and Facebook allow users to rewatch live streams even after they’ve ended.
Perhaps this will change in future updates, but that’s how the feature works for now. If you’re in the US, you should keep an eye out for its availability.