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How to join live video on instagram


How to go live on Instagram, stream with guests & join other lives

  ❘   Published: 2022-01-24T17:31:04

  ❘   Updated: 2022-01-24T17:31:04

Throughout Instagram are various creators live streaming videos to their fans. Here’s everything we know about how to live stream on your own Instagram account. 

Instagram launched its own in-app live-streaming feature in 2016. Since then, the Meta-owned image-sharing app has built up the functionality with other features like questions and the ability to co-stream with your friends.

Much like how users go live on other apps like Twitch and TikTok, Instagram’s live video streaming provides a fun way to interact with your community in real-time.

Here’s how to go live on Instagram, including how to go live with a friend or request to join another user’s live stream.

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How to go live on Instagram

  1. Open the Instagram app on your Android or iOS device.
  2. Tap the “+” sign in the top right corner of the home page. Alternatively, you can access the same screen by swiping left.
  3. This will open the New Post page. In the menu bar at the bottom, swipe right until you can select Live.
  4. After the camera screen opens, you can tap on the four lines located on the left side to add a title or tap the heart underneath it to make your video a fundraiser.
  5. Tap the circle button at the bottom to go live. Active followers will be notified, and when they tune in, their names will appear on your screen.
  6. To end a live video, tap the “X” in the top-right corner and select End Now in the pop-up.

After the app ends the video, Instagram will show you how many people viewed your stream. You’ll also have the option to either share the video or delete it entirely.

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How to go live on Instagram with a guest

  1. Repeat steps 1-5 above for going live by yourself.
  2. Once you’re live, tap the icon of a video camera at the bottom of the screen. Search for the user you wish to invite, tap on their name and they will join your live video.
  3. To end the stream, tap the “X” in the top right corner and select End Now in the pop-up.

The default invite list is based on users who are watching your live stream.

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However, Instagram does offer the ability to search for users who are not watching and will send a request to them.

How to request to be in another user’s live video

  1. Open another user’s live video and tap Request to join – then tap Send Request in the pop-up.
  2. You will receive a notification letting you know if your request has been accepted or denied.

There’s everything we know regarding how to go live on the image-sharing social media app. For more tips and tricks for Instagram, check out our other guides.

Here's Everything You Need to Know

Instagram Live lets you broadcast video to your followers in real-time as part of Instagram Stories — a feature that launched in August and is now used by 100 million people every day.

One key difference between Instagram Live video and existing live broadcasting products like Facebook live and Periscope is that Instagram Live video is completely ephemeral: as soon as the broadcast ends, the video disappears. No replays.

Alongside live video, Instagram has also launched another ephemeral Snapchat-like feature in its direct messages, enabling users to send disappearing videos and photos to individuals and groups within Instagram Direct.

Live video will be rolling out globally over the next few weeks and disappearing messages in Instagram Direct will be live across the globe today. Let’s dive in and show you how you can use Instagram’s newest features.

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Getting to know Live Video on Instagram Stories

Live video on Instagram Stories helps you connect with your friends and followers right now, in the moment.

Going live takes just a couple of steps from the Instagram stories camera, and when you’re done broadcasting, your video will disappear as soon as the stream stops, which could encourage more Instagrammers to jump on and feel more comfortable sharing live content. On the other hand, the fact that the content will no longer be viewable once the stream ends also creates a state of urgency for viewers to ensure that they don’t miss out.

How to share live video

Going live on Instagram is pretty straightforward — just swipe right from the feed to open the camera, select “Live” and tap the “Start Live Video” button to start sharing:

Live videos on Instagram can last for up to an hour, and followers may get a notification when you go live so they can tune in and interact with you during the broadcast.

While you’re live, you can pin a comment for everyone to see or turn comments off altogether. Pinned comments could be a great way to frame the video and let everyone know what’s going on — a pinned comment could also be a great way to encourage interaction and responses from your audience.

Update: You can now start a live video with another person, which is perfect for interviews and collaborations. To invite someone to your live video, tap on the icon with two smiley faces and tap on his or her name. (You can only invite someone who is viewing your live video.) To join someone else’s live video, tap “Request” and then “Send Request”. Have fun!

How to tell when other Instagrammers are live

Since Instagram live videos disappear as soon as the broadcast ends, discovering the best live streams and the streams of Instagrammers you follow is incredibly important. When someone you follow starts a live video story on Instagram, you’ll see “Live” under their profile photo in the stories bar (and you may also get a notification):

Instagram’s Explore tab will also feature current live stories and there will also be an option to tap “Top Live” to see what videos are trending in that moment based on number of viewers, location and engagement. You’ll be able to skip around the trending live videos by swiping right and left, making it incredibly easy to jump between live stories.

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5 ways brands could use Instagram live video

1. Office hours / Q&A sessions

Live video is a great way to answer questions from your audience in an engaging way. It’s a perfect way to invite your audience to interact with some of your team and to show the people behind your brand. By opening up to questions in real time, you can use live video to build strong relationships with your audience.

2. Launches and announcements

Social media is a two-way street, and it works best when you’re listening to your audience as well as sharing content with them. Live video provides the opportunity to do both.

With a live video to celebrate a product launch or big announcement, you can let the world know about your big news and also interact with your audience at the same time. For an example of this, Nissan live streamed the launch of one if its latest models at the New York auto show.

3. Take people behind-the-scenes

Many brands have used Instagram stories to take users behind-the-scenes in a myriad of situations, from what’s going on in the office to the set of their latest advert. Live video adds another element to what is already some of the most engaging content shared to Instagram stories.

With Instagram live video, we’ll likely see more brands, influencers, and celebrities taking users behind-the-scenes and sharing a transparent look into their world.

4. Interviews, collaborations and takeovers

When Airbnb partnered with Disney as part of their Live There marketing campaign, they turned to Facebook live as a way to stream interviews from the red carpet at the Jungle Book premiere.

Not all of us have the ability share interviews with famous movies stars from the red carpet, but we could create interesting interviews with influencers from our niche or even other members of our team. For example, you could interview a designer about how they designed your latest feature or link up with a well-known blogger in your niche and run a live interview.

Takeovers have also been extremely popular on Instagram stories, with brands teaming up to create content for each other’s stories and we’ll likely see this tactic transition to Instagram live video as well.

5. Experimental content

One of the most famous examples of live video online is when Buzzfeed took to Facebook live and stretched rubber bands over a watermelon until it eventually burst. This video had the perfect mix of weirdness and unpredictability and kept users engaged.

The video has now amassed over 11 million views on Facebook and at its peak had over 800,000 people watching live. When it comes to live video, don’t be afraid to try something experimental and think a little outside the box.

Disappearing photos and videos in Instagram Direct

The second feature Instagram have debuted today is disappearing photos and videos within Instagram Direct. In a move that again edges Instagram ever closer to Snapchat, Instagrammers will be able to send disappearing photos and videos directly to groups and individual friends.

Since Instagram made improvements to the way to their direct messaging system worked last year, the number of people who use Instagram Direct each month has grown from 80 million to 300 million — with many of these users turning to group threads every day to stay in touch with their closest friends and family.

How to send a disappearing message on Instagram

To send an ephemeral photo or video simply swipe right into the camera to take a photo or video, then tap the arrow to send it privately:

After clicking on the arrow to send the message you can choose a pre-existing group to send it to or create a new one in just a few taps — and you can also send to individual friends at the same time. These messages disappear from the recipient’s inboxes once they have viewed them once.  And you’ll also see if they replayed it or took a screenshot.

It’s also worth noting that, whether your account is set to public or private, you can only send disappearing photos and videos to people who follow you.

Viewing messages in Instagram Direct

Once this update is live for you, you’ll notice a new paper airplane icon at the top right corner of your feed – this will take you directly to your inbox – alternatively, you can also swipe right to get to your inbox. Disappearing photos and videos in a bar at the top, similar to the way stories are displayed in the main Instagram feed.

Within the bar, blue rings will indicate new disappearing messages. Instagram Direct will remember your groups. So if you send an Instagram story to three people, Instagram saves that group in your Direct inbox so you can keep the thread going easily, rather than replying to each person in the group individually.

Another great group messaging feature is that in a group message, you can see everyone’s responses — and who else has seen them — in a slideshow format. Then when you’re done, just tap their faded profile photo to send a quick response.

Over to you

What are your thoughts on Instagram’s latest features? Are you excited to test out live video on Instagram? Will disappearing messages threaten Snapchat at all? Share your thoughts in the comments and I’d be excited to join the conversation.

Share your thoughts in the comments and I’d be excited to join the conversation.

We recently launched one of our biggest product enhancements, Buffer for Instagram, to help you plan, track and amplify your Instagram marketing.

Check out another Instagram release: IGTV, long-form video on Instagram

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How to invite guests to live on Instagram?

Help Center

Instagram Features

Broadcasts

You can invite up to three guests to your live stream in a room, or send a request to join a live broadcast of another person. There are two ways to start a live broadcast and invite guests on Instagram.

Note. The author of the broadcast can only invite guests who follow him on Instagram.

To invite a guest to live on Instagram:

Tap the icon at the top of the screen or swipe right anywhere on the ribbon.

Scroll to Live TV at the bottom of the screen.

Press .

Press . Here you will see requests to join your room. You can also click next to the username you want or search for the username at the top of the screen.

Click to invite subscribers to live.

Select Submit Request. If the guest accepts the invitation, they will appear live in the room. If the invitation is declined, a notification will appear. nine0003

To delete a user who has joined live in a room, click the x icon in the upper right corner of the frame in which it is displayed.

To request to participate in the live stream you are watching:

Click the icon at the bottom of the screen.

Press .

Click Request to Join and then Submit Request.

If your request is accepted, you will be notified that you are ready to join the room live. nine0003

Note. In the comments section, you may receive an automatic notification asking you to submit a request to participate live in the room.

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How to Watch Live on Instagram

Instagram's booming photo and video sharing app is at its peak today. With each update, users are offered more and more opportunities, thanks to which the social network is already becoming global. The implementation of the live broadcast function further fueled the interest of the public. In fact, this is an online video recording with the possibility of commenting, which can also be saved. Thanks to this feature, celebrities, businessmen, bloggers, as well as ordinary users can broadcast live for various purposes (for example, communicating with fans, live advertising, informing subscribers about the company's work, services, and other points). Mere mortals can now reach for the stars by spying on someone else's life through Instagram. People whose accounts were created in support of their professional activities have new opportunities to increase interest in their person, product, etc.

The idea, by the way, is not new, similar functionality has already been implemented in Facebook and Periscope, however, a new feature in Instagram that appeared in early 2017 attracted everyone's attention and was warmly received by the public. So now live broadcasts on Instagram are the number one trend. Anyone can capture the attention of an audience. At the same time, the live broadcasts of Instagram profile owners do not always carry a semantic load, so do not be surprised if the host of the broadcast behaves strangely, inappropriate behavior is not uncommon. Since the function is available to everyone and everyone, in a fit of frantic desire to speak out and express themselves, users sometimes forget about decency. Basically, the broadcasts are still thematic and are created for a specific purpose, whether it is attraction to a business, contact with subscribers, training, etc. , or maybe the broadcaster just wanted to share his thoughts on any occasion. Not all users know how to find and watch a live broadcast on Instagram, we will deal with this issue. nine0003

How to find a live broadcast on Instagram

Broadcasts are displayed on the top bar above the news feed, where the stories are. So, if the user you are following is now live, then the thumbnail of his account will be surrounded by a colored ring, and the corresponding inscription “Live” will appear under it. You can join the view from the profile of the person who records the video online (a standard button in the form of a triangle "Play" will be available at the bottom of the user's avatar). Only the user who organized the shooting can save content to devices for subsequent publication or other purposes, but this function is not available to viewers, so other people's saved broadcasts can be viewed when the profile owner posts them on their page. At the same time, at the top of the record, it will be indicated when this broadcast was held. nine0003

Popular Instagram live streams can be viewed from the main search page. At the same time, the video is available in the recommendations if it is viewed by more than 500 users. You can receive notifications about the start of broadcasts if you subscribe to a profile. Thus, the organization of communication with subscribers is more efficient. The profile owner also has the opportunity to hide the broadcast from certain persons by specifying them in the settings, because no matter what the purpose of the broadcast is (increase the number of subscribers, inform about something, etc.), different personalities can join it, including including unwanted ones. nine0003

How to watch from your phone

You can connect to the broadcast at any time of the broadcast, you don't have to log in at the beginning, and you can also watch a friend's recorded live broadcast if he posted it on his Instagram page. A confident user does not have questions about how to do this, but many users have just begun to join the ranks of Instagram fans and have not yet had time to navigate. Watching a broadcast from an iOS or Android phone is very simple:

  • First you need to open the application on your smartphone and log in. nine0084
  • We see thumbnails above the feed of publications, select the desired profile (in a colored circle with the inscription "Live") or find a popular broadcast in the search. If you are not subscribed to the user whose broadcast you want to watch, you can find him in the search, after which by clicking on the main photo (avatar) we connect to the live broadcast (the owner will see the users who have joined).

While watching, you can leave comments in the comment box below, click likes, and if you do not keep up with the unfolding events on the air, you can rewind the chat. nine0003

How to watch from a computer

The web version of Instagram has limited functionality, so you will need to install additional tools to watch live on a computer. There will be no problems with this, the necessary software is available on official resources (in the application store, on the developer's website). You can provide conditions for the ability to watch live on the Instagram social network from a computer using the following tools:

  • Android emulator. nine0084
  • Instagram application.
  • Browser extension.

Android emulator

We will emulate the Android environment on a computer in order to run a mobile application using the popular BlueStacks application. If you have an emulator, by launching it, you get the opportunity to work in exactly the same way as if you were using a smartphone, including downloading and using mobile software. First, the Android simulator needs to be installed into the system by downloading the distribution kit from the official website of the developer. The procedure is standard - download, select the installation path, accept the terms of the agreement, after which the installation is performed automatically. Next, do the following:

  • Launching BlueStacks. At the first start, you will have to wait a little while the program scans the system and applies the appropriate settings.
  • After completing the setup process, you need to log in to your Google account.
  • After logging in, go to the "Application Center" tab, from where any Android applications will be available to us. In the search field on the right, we drive in the query Instagram.
  • Among the results, select the first official Instagram client in the list and install it by pressing the appropriate button, after installation the software will appear in the "My Applications" tab. nine0084
  • Click on the Instagram icon, after launching, enter your profile authorization data.
  • Now, you can watch users' live broadcasts on Instagram through a computer in the same way as on a smartphone. At the top of the interface, thumbnails of friends' profiles are available, and those who are broadcasting will be marked. Select the broadcast by clicking on the avatar.

Instagram application under Windows 10

For earlier versions of the Windows operating system, for example, if you have "Seven", this method will not work. We use it in the case when the computer is "Ten". To watch live on Instagram from a computer, do the following:

  • Installing an application from the Microsoft store.
  • Run the software, enter the profile authorization data (if missing, create it).
  • Stories will now be available at the top of the interface. If a user starts broadcasting, their profile thumbnail will be marked with a "Live" icon and you can join to watch the broadcast.

Browser extension

Another way to watch live on Instagram involves installing a special Chrome IG Story add-on for the Google Chrome browser, for which we perform the following steps:

  • In the Chrome browser, go to the extension store.
  • In the left block in the store search bar, enter the query Chrome IG Story.
  • Select the desired add-on from the list of results and install it by pressing the corresponding button, confirming the action.
  • After installation, the extension will be available in the browser section (three dots in the upper right corner of the interface, select "Additional tools" - "Extensions"), where you can manage all installed add-ons (enable, disable, remove). nine0084
  • Click on the extension icon, as a result of which a window with user stories will open, to go to the broadcasts, click "Explore", live broadcasts will be available here. To join the viewing, simply click on the desired broadcast.

Broadcasts can be searched by name, tag or geolocation. In addition to accessing live broadcasts, you will also have the opportunity to download user stories to your computer.

How to watch live on Instagram anonymously

The user who created the broadcast can only see the number of viewers. You can see who exactly is present only by comments and likes, as well as when a person has just joined. If you do not want to show your presence, act as an observer, just watch the broadcast without commenting or pressing hearts. At the same time, many do not want to show even their appearance for a short time. To watch stories or live on Instagram anonymously, you can use one effective spy method that does not even require an Instagram profile registration. We only need the Telegram messenger installed on the device. It is interesting, including the fact that it makes it possible to use functional bots for various purposes. So, to view stories and live broadcasts incognito, we will use the IgSpyBot bot built into Telegram: