Everything can be currently on screens, but people haven’t dropped them. The musicians have made music videos at Zoom, with backup dancers performing choreographies in their own separate squares. Public figures have given interviews at Clubhouse, and members of the public have asked heated questions from their home. The chefs, whose restaurants had closed, offer cooking classes to the Twitch audience, preparing the same meals miles away.
People have also resorted to Instagram Live, like Verzuz the rap battles turned into dating visits and series of influential interviews reached the headlines. But the feature, which has existed since 2016, always had one major limitation: it could only be broadcast with one other person at a time. Now, Instagram is expanding Live with Live Rooms, a feature that allows up to four people to join a broadcast. The company hopes it will translate into more creative use of its platform, as it competes to keep people’s attention amid a growing number of options.
Although Instagram Live has been supporting two-person streaming for years, the company says it was never a very popular feature. Then came the pandemic and that changed drastically. Last February and March, the company said it saw 70% more audience on Instagram Live than in previous months. The creators also started going live with a couple more often. Having more than one guest, however, required some juggling. When Diddy hosted a charity event on Instagram Live for health workers in April, he had to switch celebrities like Cardi B, Tracee Ellis Ross and Michelle Obama in and out of second place.
“The most requested feature was,‘ Can I go live with multiple people? “, Says Kristin George, product director for Instagram creators. With Live Rooms, anyone can start a live stream and add up to three guests, who will receive a push notification inviting them to join. Each person appears in its own square, similar to a video call, but with the usual pitfalls of an Instagram stream: live comments appear on the screen, creators can use augmented reality filters, and viewers can pay money in form of “badges.” version of a digital tip jar.When building the function, George says four people seemed to be the maximums before the rooms felt too crowded, but the number is likely to increase in the future.
With Live Rooms, anyone can start a live broadcast and add up to three guests.
Courtesy of InstagramInstagram began testing Live Rooms a few months ago in India and Indonesia, large markets that had been extremely active on Instagram Live in 2020. So far, George says, it has seen creative uses of the feature. A beauty influencer invited three friends to do a tandem makeup tutorial, which showed how the products worked in different face shapes and skin tones. Another creator hosted one Single-style show with a woman and two possible suitors.
These types of cross-events are not only a creative expression, they are also a growth strategy. By appearing together in a stream, creators can create audiences and cross-pollinate their networks.
For its global launch on Monday, Instagram has organized a week of events to show what the new feature can do. The lineup includes several roundtables with creators, including two sessions to discuss the #BuyBlack movement, an effort to support black-owned businesses that gained more attention last summer. Another Live Room, featuring prominent weird creators like Alok Vaid-Menon, Basit, Travis Alabanza and Pidgeon, will raise money for the Transgender Law Center.
“I really think the collab culture is the future,” George says. “People want to create together even when they are separated, or maybe especially when they are separated. What has been really interesting about what is happening on the market right now on social media is that everyone is leaning towards this trend in a different way. ”