Instagram launches the ability to go Live with up to three additional people in India

Instagram today announced a feature called ‘Live Rooms’, to help creators better engage with and grow their audiences by going live with multiple guests. The early tests for this feature were done in India and now India is one of the first countries to roll it out more broadly.  

Instagram Live gives people the ability to go live and create and connect virtually, and hence has seen diverse use cases this year. In March, Instagram Live views in India grew 60%* on a week-on-week basis. Now with the ability to go Live with up to three guests, creators have more opportunities have conversations with their communities, and to expand their reach and use cases for Live, such as starting a talk show or a podcast, hosting a jam session or co-creating with other artists, leading to more engaging Q&As with those they’re going Live with, or simply hanging out with friends. 

Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director, Facebook India, said, “Creators are at the forefront of pushing culture and creativity on Instagram and we’re constantly innovating to help them express themselves better. This year in particular has seen extensive use of Live, and as physical distancing norms continue, Live will remain an invaluable feature to bring friends, families and audiences together, and foster meaningful conversations. From the launch of Reels, to the testing and rollout of Live Rooms, India is playing a crucial role in the way products are being designed for the future.” 

The early test for 'Live Rooms' took place with a few creators in India, including @shereenlovebug aka Shereen Bharwani, @mr.mnv aka Manav Chhabra and @rohina aka Rohina Anand Khira. Manav shared his experience, “I’m happy and proud to have been part of the early testing of 'Live Rooms'. It’s great to see the inputs from our experience in India, shape a feature that could one day be used globally. Also this multi-participant chat format is so versatile; I already have a few ideas of how I’m going to use this.”

While 'Live Rooms' will facilitate greater audience engagement, safety continues to be a focus and the existing safety measures will work on Live Rooms as well. There are built in controls to keep the community safe.

How to use ‘'Live Rooms'’:

• To go live

â—‹      Tap the plus sign in top left hand corner of your stories tray or click the “Create” plus icon in the top right of home navigation bar

â–       Note: you can also swipe left when you’re on your main Instagram home screen!

â—‹      Scroll to and tap the Live camera option at the bottom

â—‹      Use the menu on the left to add a title if you so choose

â—‹      Tap the circular button to go live

• To add guests to your live stream

â—‹      While you’re already live, tap the Camera/Rooms icon

â—‹      Now, you’ll see people that have requested to join your live. You can also search for your guest’s name to send them a request to join your live.

â—‹      Simply tap on the guest’s handle to add them

• Note: You can add all three guests at one time, and you can also add guests at a later time

The rollout for 'Live Rooms' has begun and will be available to everyone in India and Indonesia soon.

Hear more stories of how the Facebook family of apps are immersed in the fabric of India – giving people, communities, and businesses a platform to express themselves, to connect, and grow, at Facebook Fuel For India. Through Facebook Fuel for India on December 15th and 16th, we want to share stories that have inspired us – stories of hope, passion, and resolve. These stories are unique to India, and we are humbled to be a part of them.