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Social media app Instagram is to introduce live video to its photo-sharing service.
The ability to broadcast live video has become a key area of expansion for social networking sites, with Twitter, YouTube and Instagram’s parent company Facebook having all introduced similar features.
Instagram boss Kevin Systrom has told the Financial Times the next step for the app is to let users broadcast live.
“Live is really exciting for us. I think it can enhance what we’re doing,” he said.
“If I’m trying to strengthen relationships with someone I love, them streaming video to me live would be an amazing way to be closer to them.”
Instagram has already introduced a “Stories” feature that enables users to create a collection of photos and video from the last 24 hours, mimicking a similar feature on rival service Snapchat.
There is no date yet for the live video option.
After Facebook revealed its financial results last week, founder Mark Zuckerberg said the social network giant was now prioritising video “across our family of apps”, which includes Instagram. Facebook introduced its Facebook Live video platform earlier this year.
“People are creating and sharing more video, and we think it’s pretty clear that video is only going to become more important, ” he said.
Twitter has also been using live video to stream sporting events, including Wimbledon earlier this year, and has also signed a deal with the NFL to do the same with American football games.
Snapchat created a special channel within their app during the Rio Olympics.
