Instagram adds live video, disappearing content

Facebook's photo-oriented social network Instagram has added live video for Instagram Stories and Explore, and disappearing photos and videos for Instagram Direct in a November 21 update.

The live video feature bears comparison to that found aboard Facebook and rival platform Twitter, while Snapchat has made temporal messaging one of its core characteristics.

Live video for friends and followers can stream up to an hour's footage, with notifications alerting friends to the event and the power to pin or even turn off comments given to the live feed's host.

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The disappearing photos and videos feature is for use in groups and between individual friends via the Instagram Direct channel, Instagram said in a November 21 blog post.

They are only available for use between an account and its followers, disappearing from friends' inboxes after being viewed, and letting the creator know who replayed or screenshotted the message; both features are to roll out over the next few weeks.

On the same day, Snapchat parent company Snap opened a boutique store in New York dedicated to selling its video-recording glasses, Spectacles.