How to watch live stories on instagram

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 Watch Instagram Live Videos on Your PC or Mac

If you've spent a lot of time on Instagram, you've no doubt seen Instagram Live videos. However, can you watch Instagram videos on desktop? The answer is yes, but with some caveats.

The first thing you need to know is that logging into your Instagram account on your web browser won't help. Instead, you'll need to download a Chrome extension in order to access the feature.

In this article, we list the various ways to watch Instagram Live videos on desktop...

What Is IG Stories for Instagram?

If you're on a PC or Mac, the options to watch Instagram Live on computers is limited. In most cases, we actually recommend that you watch Instagram Live through the mobile app. If you want detailed instructions on how to do so, check out the Instagram help page for more information.

However, just because your options are limited does not mean that they don't exist. You can watch Instagram Live on PC or Mac by using a Chrome extension.

One extension that allows you to view Instagram Live on PC is IG Stories for Instagram (not to be confused with Chrome IG Story).

IG Stories for Instagram is an extension that allows you to watch Instagram Live videos on a desktop computer. It also allows you to watch stories and download finished Live videos.

Please Note: The ability to download live videos is only available for Windows, as per the extension's last update. There also seems to be some functionality issues currently affecting the app's ability to download videos, as per the reviews.

However, after testing the extension, we're happy to report that the ability to watch a Instagram Live video in a browser seems to work fine.

Another recently added feature includes the ability to upload images to your Instagram Story through the app.

How to Watch Instagram Live on PC or Mac

To watch Instagram Live desktop videos:

Install the Chrome extension IG Stories for Instagram.
Next, log into your Instagram account through a Chrome browser.
Click on the app's icon at the top of your screen.
Choose Go to IG Stories.
Once you click on Go to IG Stories, you'll be taken to an extension version of your Instagram page.

On the IG Stories for Instagram page, you should see four categories along your search bar:

Friends
Location
Search
Upload

The section you see upon logging in is usually Friends.

On this page, there will be a list of your friends who have recently posted images or videos to their stories.

At the top of the Friends section---if your friends are currently broadcasting a live video---you'll see that person's username with a Live icon beside them. Click on the icon to start watching the live video:

If there are no live videos playing, you can click on your friend's "eye" icon to view their previously ended live videos that have been added to the Stories section.

You can also:

Download Stories.
Watch Stories from strangers that are tagged with a country location.
Search for Stories by Users, Tags, or Places.

This app is really handy if you want to watch Instagram Live on PC or Mac. However, you'll want to use it in tandem with another app to access the full functionality of Instagram, as its focus is on live videos.

Additional Considerations

We also want to issue a caveat for this extension before you try it.

While checking the reviews, we noticed multiple complaints where users were prompted to download an .exe file when downloading a Live video. It was an .exe that some found to be unnecessary and/or suspicious. Some users even reported the .exe being flagged as malware.

Although the developer has done their best to address these concerns in the comments, and we were personally not prompted to download an . exe while testing, there were enough complaints that we felt a caveat was warranted. As always, use common sense when using any app.

For more information on Stories and how they play into this extension, here's how to re-share Instagram posts to Stories.

Additional Live Instagram PC Apps Worth Trying

If you're not satisfied with the recommendation above, but still want to watch Instagram Live on computers or other devices, there are some other apps worth trying.

There's a tool called Loola.tv that allows you to stream live videos from your desktop to multiple platforms, including Instagram. However, Loola is strictly geared towards content creators, not followers who want to watch Instagram Live on PC. Which means it isn't suitable for watching videos in a browser, at least for the average user.

One of the best extensions we've tested is Desktop for Instagram, by Devanco.

With this app, you can search Instagram for recent videos and pictures. You can watch people's Stories, post your own videos to IGTV, and download videos and pictures from Instagram to your desktop.

The developers claim that this extension lets you do everything you would normally do on the mobile Instagram app, including watching Instagram Live videos. However, after testing out Desktop for Instagram, we don't think it quite lives up to the hype.

IG Stories for Instagram is still better suited for this purpose.

Tips for Finding Instagram Live Streams

No matter which app you try out, there are some simple tips for finding Instagram live streams. And these work on all of the extensions we've mentioned in this article.

Who you follow matters: If you want to watch Instagram Live streams from your friends, some people are far more likely to do live streams than others.
Instagram Stories: When you log into the app, or use an extension like Desktop for Instagram, you'll see a row of avatars with colored circles at the top of your feed. This is your Stories section. If you see the words "Live" beneath a user's avatar, this means that your friend is currently broadcasting.
Replay Live videos: If you happen to miss a live video, never fear. Instagram Live videos can be shared to Instagram Stories after they're ended, although it should be noted that replays disappear from the feed after 24 hours. You can find out more on the Instagram help page for this feature.
Find new people to follow: By using Instagram's Search and Explore option, you can find additional people to follow who may share live videos, too.

The Instagram Mobile App Is the Best Option

While all the extensions listed above are good, there is no seamless, bug-free way to watch Instagram Live on a PC or Mac. As such, the Instagram mobile app remains the best option if that's what you want to do.

That said, you should still try IG Stories for Instagram, as it's a good extension for watching live videos at this moment. In the meantime, if you're new to Instagram, you should read our guide to IGTV (Instagram TV) and how it works in order to get yourself acquainted with the platform.

Want to share your own favorite videos on Instagram? Here's how you can post a YouTube video to Instagram.

How to watch live on Instagram

The rapidly growing Instagram application used for sharing photos and videos 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.

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.

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.

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.
We see thumbnails above the publication feed, 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.

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 broadcasts on the Instagram social network from a computer using the following tools:

Android emulator.
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.
Upon completion of 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.
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 a broadcast, their profile thumbnail will be marked with a "Live" icon and you can join to watch the broadcast.

Browser extension

Another way to watch Instagram live is to install the special Chrome IG Story add-on for the Google Chrome browser, for which we follow these 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).
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:

Open the messenger, go through the account authorization (create a profile if you don't have one) and go to "Contacts".
In the search bar, enter the address of the @igspybot bot, select it when it appears in the results and add it to contacts.
Launch the bot in the dialogue window with it.
We send a message to the bot, the content of which will be @nickname of the user whose broadcast, stories, etc. we will watch. We put the dog in front of the name, we send it.
In the menu that appears, select the user's broadcasts and the desired broadcast from those available in the list.
We are waiting for the content to load, after which we can view or download to the device.

Live broadcasts on the net are far from new, and watching broadcasts, as well as creating them, is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. After reading the detailed instructions on how to do this, even inexperienced users do not have questions.

Instagram Live feature: how to launch and how to watch

Have you ever dreamed of becoming a live broadcast star and impressing everyone with your beauty, sparkling humor and amazing intellect? If yes, then your time has come! Instagram has a live feature!

Now any user can go live directly from his phone and express everything that is boiling. Or share the beauty that you see around. Or tell a funny story that just happened to him.

How it works, how to enable live broadcast on Instagram and how to watch it, what features this format has - read about all this below!

When and why did the live broadcast function appear on Instagram

In Russia, live broadcast on Instagram appeared at the beginning of 2017 (for me personally, this function began to work in full in February 2017). Prior to this, similar functionality was in Periscope and Facebook (live broadcasts). And everything would be fine if your audience "sat" on Periscope and Facebook. If your audience is on Instagram, then dragging it to other social networks is very difficult and inconvenient. That's why everyone was waiting for when it would be possible to broadcast live on Instagram itself. And so we waited!

Now you can communicate with subscribers face to face, ask questions to idols directly, conduct your own interviews and spy not only on the sleek life in the photographs, but also on the real life that is happening right now.

Live on Instagram: how it works

As with any new product, there are many nuances and peculiarities with live broadcasts. Let's take a look at the points that are already working.

How to make a live broadcast on Instagram

If you want to start your own broadcast, then you need to go to the section Stories , select the "live broadcast" mode and start broadcasting.

Please note that if you are going to be live streaming for a long time, holding the phone in your hand will most likely be tiring. Much easier to put it on a tripod, lean against a stack of books or a wall, or put it on an open laptop (this is what I do).

The maximum duration of the broadcast is about an hour. However, as the survey showed, usually no one stays until the very end, so it’s best to count on 20-25 minutes.

Instagram live videos are not saved. At least for now. Once you stop the broadcast - and that's it, no one else will watch the video.

UPD From March 20, 2017, live broadcasts can be saved to your phone. To do this, after the end of the broadcast, click on the "Save" button with an arrow in the upper right corner.

UPD from June 2017 live broadcast can be saved and placed in stories for 24 hours.

When you start a live broadcast, some of your friends will be automatically notified about this so that they can quickly connect to you. If someone is online at that moment, they will see a pop-up right in the feed.

How to watch Instagram live from your computer

You can watch Instagram live from your computer if you have the Instagram app for Windows installed. You can download it here .

UPD In April 2020, the web version of Instagram was updated, now you can watch live from your computer without downloading additional applications.

How to watch Instagram live from phone

When one of your subscriptions goes live, Instagram sends notifications about it. Unfortunately, notifications do not always come. But in the story feed, live broadcasts are directly signed - “Live broadcast”. You just have to click on the avatar of the person you want to watch, and you get on the air.

If you went to someone's profile and at the moment this person is live, there will be a corresponding mark on his avatar about this.

What viewers can do "live"

When you watch a live broadcast, you can do 3 things:

write a comment;
send hearts;
hide chat.

To write a comment, you need to click on the bar with the word "Comment". You will have a keyboard and you can write and send your message. It will appear in the general chat on the screen.

If you have nothing to say, but you want to support the broadcast, you can send hearts. To do this, poke in the lower right corner on the heart. You can send as many hearts as you like. You can bring down the heart waterfall right away. The broadcaster will be pleased!

If the broadcast is interesting and the chat distracts you, you can hide it. To do this, simply tap on the screen. If you want to return the chat - poke the screen again. By the way, if you yourself are broadcasting and the chat distracts you, you can also hide it by tapping on the screen.

Nicks in the chat are not clickable, it will not work to go to the account by clicking on someone from the chat.

How to pin a comment live

Only the author of the live broadcast can pin a comment. This is handy if you get asked the same question a million times. In this case, you can write an answer to this question and fix your comment. To do this, click on it and select "pin comment" in the menu that appears.

It's also handy if you're talking about a book, movie, or event that you have a link to in your profile. You can also write “registration for the Lyalal event via the link in the header of my profile” and fix this comment.

Live chat can be "rewound"

Sometimes the chat is updated very quickly and it is difficult to follow the messages. Fortunately, the chat can be "scrolled". Just touch the screen in the chat area and swipe up or down to rewind the conversation and find the right message or question.

Popular live streams

Popular live streams, as well as stories and posts, are displayed on the search page. So far, there are broadcasts on which there are more than 500 people.

Notifications about live broadcasts are received only by those who are subscribed to the author of the broadcast. This makes live streaming relatively safe and reduces the chance of bots, psychos, and “show boobs” comments (such comments are not uncommon on Periscope, for which many people disliked it). You will communicate with those who sympathize with you and follow you.

But if your broadcast hit the “popular” list, wait for questions from the series: “Who is this anyway?” and “What the hell is she talking about?”. Well, “show boobs”, of course, where without them, because anyone can look into your broadcast.

Live on Instagram: personal experience

Before writing this article, I tested live on Instagram for a month, launching them almost every day. On February 11, I made a live broadcast about live broadcasts, where I conducted a small survey among my viewers. It was thanks to that broadcast that I learned about the possibility of hiding the chat and pinning a comment! Many thanks to everyone who came then!

The whole truth about the live broadcast on Instagram

If you expected that live broadcasts will show you heavenly beauties and give you amazing insights, then no. Sometimes, including live broadcasts, you can see this:

In the "Popular" section, there are popular live broadcasts too. And there are broadcasts when a person is simply silent. He just stays silent, looks into the camera, leaves the frame, returns to the frame, zooms in on the camera. .. And all this is silent. And this broadcast is watched by 6,000 people. And I also came across a live broadcast where a young man picked his nose. Also, by the way, silently.

Live broadcasts are addictive

Why do such strange broadcasts exist? Because this new feature is addictive. I felt it myself.

When you first start a live broadcast, you are curious and a little scared. The second time the fear goes away and there is a desire to share something with the audience. For the third time, you want to go on the air, even if you have nothing to say, because you get hooked on questions, likes and attention to your person. You feel like a star and it's addictive.

It is because of this dependence that the air is full of empty and meaningless broadcasts from "talking heads" when people go on air just to go on air.

How to bring viewers to your broadcast

Live broadcast notifications do not always come. Because of this, some subscribers may miss your inclusion. To prevent this from happening, plan live broadcasts in advance and make announcements in stories, posts, or both. Of course, this does not guarantee you record views and it is unlikely that someone will cancel cases for you, but readers will at least have the choice and the opportunity to set a reminder at the right time, even if the notification from Instagram itself does not come.

Live stream attendance

In my experience, there are fewer live stream viewers on weekends. On weekdays, an average of 50 people connected to me, on weekends - 20. If you have prepared an interesting and important topic, it is better to release it on weekdays, so it will gather more viewers, you will get more questions and the broadcast will be more interesting.

Live broadcast is a way to devirtualize

The word “devirtualization” appeared in the LiveJournal era. It means a real meeting after a long virtual communication. In the case of a live broadcast, you can meet many of your readers at once and for this you do not have to book a room and go somewhere.

De-virtualization can also affect account activity. "Live" broadcast gives a much greater emotional connection with subscribers. You become for them not a person "behind the scenes", but a real and living companion.

True, there may be an opposite effect here, if you were presented as an erudite intellectual on your account, but on live air you seemed completely different, readers will be disappointed.

Topic of the broadcast

Only celebrities can afford to remain silent on the air. In the case of ordinary bloggers, viewers are more interested in watching thematic broadcasts or broadcasts with answers to questions (also on a given topic).

Here, however, there is also a peculiarity. Viewers connect to the air at different times. As a result, there is always someone who missed the beginning and does not understand what it is about, and even the same questions appear in the chat several times. The last problem can be solved by asking (and training) the viewers in the chat to answer questions for you if they know the answer.