On Monday, Instagram introduced its latest (and seemingly billionth) update: the ability to create and broadcast live videos on Instagram. They’re a bit like Facebook Live videos, in that they reach your followers instantly, but one key difference sets them apart: as soon as you stop streaming, the video disappears. For all time. With such a short viewing window, some internet users are wondering: Instagram live videos automatically send notifications to everything followers when a user starts streaming?
Luckily for those who are easily annoyed among your followers, no. According to the International business time, Instagram will only alert certain users if someone they follow goes live. Notifications will go to the closest followers and those most likely to tune in to a specific user’s stream, according to an Instagram spokesperson. However, those who are not alerted via notifications will simply see that a user is broadcasting live in The Stories section of Instagram (at the top of user feeds) when they open the app.
If you’re a bit grumpy like me and aren’t interested in seeing live updates on your friend’s breakfast sandwich, you might be wondering how turn off notifications for all instagram live videos AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. To do this, simply go to your profile, go to your settings and click on “Push notifications”. Scroll down to the live video section and turn off notifications, then breathe a sweet, sweet sigh of relief.
On the other hand, if you’re a frequent Instagram broadcaster, you might want to block certain people from seeing your stories, live or otherwise. To do this, you can either block users completely (a good move when it comes to that guy who keeps posting creepy comments on your photos), or you can just hide your stories from certain followers without taking such drastic measures (sorry Grandma, no Friday night updates for you). To keep stories private for certain users, go to your settings and tap “Story settings” under “Account”. There you can choose individual users to hide your stories. It’s safe to say that these users won’t get notifications when you go live or post stories.
There are also other ways to protect your privacy (and self-esteem) while live streaming. While live videos generally allow subscribers to comment as a video feed, Instagram also allows users to completely disable comments on live videos. Users can also pin their own comment to the top of a video, so subscribers know what’s going on during the video.
With a few little switches to personalize your experience, Instagram Live Videos can be a pretty awesome addition to your social media, or one you can ignore almost entirely. For those who can’t wait to start live streaming, brace yourself: the feature will be rolling out globally over the next few weeks.
