Instagram is reportedly set to introduce an option to add moderators to live videos, as well as a dedicated similar button for its disappearing stories.
The rumors come from “reverse engineer” Alessandro Paluzzi, who frequently digs into the code of social media apps to see what developers are working on behind the scenes.
In the past week alone, he claimed that Snapchat was rolling out an update to overhaul its user interface, alleged that Twitter was testing a new community feature, and leaked several changes for Instagram.
As for the latter, one of Paluzzi’s biggest revelations is that the Meta-owned photo-sharing platform will soon allow you to add moderators to your live videos (often abbreviated as “Lives”). .
For context, right now it’s only possible for the person actually streaming one of these clips to moderate their chat, but with the purported update, you’ll be able to grant those privileges to someone else. another on your “Who’s Watching” list. In other words, you can give another user the task of sifting through comments, handling upload requests, and muting questions.
According to Paluzzi’s tweets on the subject, you’ll only be able to appoint one moderator per Live video, so you’ll need to make sure you pick someone you trust. Not only that, but you need to be on the most recent version of Instagram for this feature to even work in the first place.
If all of this turns out to be correct, the feature will be especially beneficial for high-profile influencers and celebrities, who will naturally have a lot more engagement when it comes to their lives. Of course, it will still be a welcome addition for general users on the social media platform.
As you can see below, Paluzzi’s tweets are accompanied by mockups that show what the “add moderator” feature will look like in action.
Instagram introduces Like button for Stories
In addition to the moderator update, Paluzzi also reported that Instagram will be getting a new “like” button specifically for its disappearing stories.
As it stands, the only metric you have to measure engagement on this type of content (before it expires after 24 hours) is to see who viewed it. According to screenshots leaked by Paluzzi, that’s all set to change soon, as you’ll be able to ‘Like’ Stories, much like you can with the thumbs-up icon on Facebook or the favorite button on Twitter.
Also, you apparently won’t be limited to liking a story once and instead can do so multiple times. How this will be reflected in metrics is currently unclear, but the leaks mention that these interactions will only be visible to you and the person sharing the content in question.
Again, Paluzzi shared images in a thread showing what it will look like if and when it rolls out.
Newsweek has contacted Instagram’s PR team to ask if there is any veracity to Paluzzi’s reports, but at the time of writing we have received no response.
In related Instagram news, check out our guide on how to joint posts using the new collaboration feature.
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