Instagram is introducing a feature that will allow users to go live only with their close friends list, the company announced on Thursday. The new “Live with Close Friends” feature will allow users to go live with up to three users.
According to Instagram, the new feature can be used to share thoughts, spontaneously catch up with friends, share memes, plan trips, do homework together, and just hang out in real time.
Instagram launched Live streaming in 2016, and from the beginning, live streams were meant to be public and visible to all followers. The feature has been widely used by celebrities and influencers as a way to connect with their fans. For the average user, the idea of going live to all of their followers may not be appealing.
With this new feature, Instagram is giving users the option to control who can watch their streams, which may encourage some users who haven't used the feature before to give it a try.
The introduction of this new feature shows that Instagram is continuing to work towards enabling more private and curated connections on the platform.
Late last year, the company introduced a status feature called “Notes” that lets users update their real-world friends with just text and emojis. Users can post notes that appear at the top of their friends' inboxes for 24 hours. Instagram sees the feature as a way for users to start conversations with friends in a lightweight, private way.
As Instagram becomes increasingly associated with influencers and advertising, it makes sense that the social network would release a feature aimed at regular users who are nostalgic for the early days of Instagram, when it was a platform for connecting with real-life friends.