Instagram Arrives with Private Live Streams: How to Use Them

The Meta app now has three options for going live and creating various types of content

The app wants users to make more specific content and for a nearby community
The app wants users to make more specific content and for a nearby community. (Instagram)

Instagram has launched a new tool that will allow its users to make live broadcasts privately, aimed exclusively at their list of best friends. With this feature, the application seeks to provide more intimate and personalized connection options, ideal for those users who want to create specific content.

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Since its introduction in 2016, the app’s live streams have become a key tool for influencers, celebrities, and users looking to connect with their audience in real-time. However, these broadcasts have always been public, accessible to anyone who follows the user’s account.

With the new privacy setting, Instagram now allows live streams to be viewed only by those who the user has added to their Best Friends list. This feature offers a secure and private way to share moments live, without the pressure of doing so in front of a wider audience.

The app wants users to make more specific content and for a nearby community
The app wants users to make more specific content and for a nearby community. (REUTERS)

How to turn on live streams for Best Friends

Activating this new option is simple and is done in a few steps. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Open the Instagram camera from the app.
  2. Select the ‘Direct’ option in the bottom wheel of options.
  3. At the bottom of the screen, tap the ‘All’ button.
  4. Select ‘Best Friends’ from the drop-down menu.
  5. Start the broadcast by pressing the camera button.

If you follow these steps and can’t find the option, make sure your app is up to date. You can check for updates available in the Play Store or App Store. If, after updating, the option still does not appear, the feature may not yet be available for your account, but don’t worry, as Instagram is rolling out this feature progressively.

When one of your Best Friends is livestreaming for their Best Friends list, you’ll see a green ring around their name with the word LIVE. In addition, you will receive a notification (unless you have turned this option off) inviting you to join the broadcast.

Instagram points out that this tool can be used for various activities: from sharing spontaneous thoughts and catching up with friends, to sharing memes, planning trips, doing tasks together or simply hanging out in real time. The ability to limit the audience to a close group of friends makes users feel more comfortable and confident when sharing more personal aspects of their lives.

The app wants users to make more specific content and for a nearby community
The app wants users to make more specific content and for a nearby community. (dpa)

Instagram Live Audience Options

With this new update, Instagram users can choose from three types of audiences for their live streams:

  • Public: The broadcast is visible to all users or only to followers if they have a private account.
  • Best Friends: Only those who are on the Best Friends list can watch the stream.
  • Practice: an ideal option for those who want to practice without actually emitting. This stream is not visible to anyone and allows you to switch to a real audience at any time.

Meta halts training of its AI with Instagram data

Meta announced that it will temporarily suspend its artificial intelligence training project in Europe. This decision comes after Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) requested information in response to multiple complaints filed by the activist group European Centre for Digital Rights (NOYB).

The app wants users to make more specific content and for a nearby community
The app wants users to make more specific content and for a nearby community. (REUTERS)

This means that Meta is no longer going ahead with its project to feed its artificial intelligence with public information from users on Instagram and Facebook.

The company argues that the request from Irish regulators represents a setback for Europe in terms of innovation and competition in the field of artificial intelligence.

They say they had already integrated regulatory recommendations into the development of Meta AI, and that the European Union’s data protection authorities were informed about it since March.

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