Instagram announced two major updates Monday morning: live video in Instagram Stories and its latest nod to Snapchat, disappearing photos and videos in its Instagram Direct messaging feature.
The Facebook-owned photo- and video-sharing network said in a blog post that live video in Instagram Stories and in its Explore section will roll out globally ?over the next few weeks,? adding:
It?s easy to go live–just swipe right from feed to open the camera, tap the ?Start Live Video? button and start sharing for up to one hour. Your friends may get a notification when you go live so they can tune in. While you?re live, you can pin a comment for everyone to see or turn comments off altogether.
When someone you follow starts a live story, you?ll see ?Live? under their profile photo in the stories bar. During the broadcast, you can comment and like as much as you want. You can also check out new live stories on Explore. Tap ?Top Live? to see exciting live stories happening at that moment and swipe right and left to easily skip around.
Meanwhile, disappearing photos and videos for friends and groups via Instagram Direct will begin rolling out globally Monday, and Instagram said in its blog post that Instagram Direct now has 300 million monthly active users, up from 80 million last year.
Instagram provided the following instructions for creating and viewing disappearing photos and videos:
Swipe right into the camera to take a photo or video, and then tap the arrow to sen...