- People are using live streaming apps and video chat apps amid the coronavirus lockdowns more than ever.
- Instagram is looking to create an option to add more than one guest to its live-streaming feature.
- Instagram might add its live streaming-feature to the web.
- Adding an option to host more than one guest in a live stream might be costly to the company.
Live streaming is going through a revival during the coronavirus pandemic. People are using the live streaming feature for digital interaction via different platforms during their practice of social distancing.
Video chat apps including Zoom and Houseparty have recorded an increased number of people are using their platforms. Instagram is taking steps to release its ‘co-watching’ feature as soon as possible. The new feature will enable the users to share their liked, saved and suggested pictures/videos to six people at the same time within the app through a video chat.
Adam Mosseri, Instagram chief indicated that the company is considering taking more steps to meet the increased usage demand on this confront in a recent Q&A session being hosted via Instagram Stories (that Andreas Sandre captured and shared in The Social Media Geek Out). The company might be increasing the capacity to go live with more than one user through the Instagram Live feature. You can go live with only one other user at the same time but the company is looking to expand this capacity. The company is not still sure whether to increase the said capacity or, to add more features, make it available on the web, or increase the stability of this feature.
Making the Instagram Live feature available to the web can be a good step but it could be a bigger addition if Instagram provides multi-participant streaming through Instagram Live but it’s also very costly to the company. Video transfer rates and data load-both will be very expensive for the company.
Blab, a multi-streaming app eventually closed after it introduced the same feature. In a video chat, the video is seen by a fewer number of people but a live stream is being watched by a broader audience. So, we can say that it’s the number of people streaming the video which adds to the complexity of the feature and its cost. This problem makes it less attractive for Instagram to add multi-participant capacity to Instagram Live.
Facebook also removed the option to live-stream with another user last year. According to Facebook, it is always figuring out the set of features it provides to its users. Facebook must provide those features which drive the best experiences and values for the community. This feature proved to be very expensive for Facebook and not gaining a significant reach, the company had to turn it down.
This makes it less likely for Instagram to add this feature but seeing an increased demand for the very feature, this feature might be worth experimenting with. We can imagine how popular this feature will become if Instagram adds this option to Instagram Live. It will be helpful if the Instagram Live is added to the web but we are yet to see an announcement from the platform expected to be made in the upcoming weeks.
Hat Tip: Socialmediatoday.
