Amid a litany of Instagram Live streams during quarantine, the Facebook-owned platform is endeavoring to make broadcasts vastly more viewable.
Live broadcasts on Instagram can now be watched on desktop devices, Engadget reports, whereas they were previously only viewable on mobile. That said, broadcasts can still only be initiated on mobile devices, meaning creators can’t stream from their computers.
Engadget reports that the desktop interface for Instagram Live is similar to the mobile experience, and also supports streams with guests. The extra screen real estate also enables Instagram to keep comments separate from the stream itself — a welcome layout given that comments on mobile screens can frequently be obstructive.
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Earlier this quarantine, Instagram unveiled a number of initiatives to promote social distancing and spread awareness about the coronavirus pandemic, including a new Co-Watching feature enabling friends to browse Instagram together, as well as the addition of more educational resources and the rollout of the Donation sticker to more countries. These initiatives arrive amid burgeoning in viewership on Instagram and parent company Facebook, where influencer marketing platform Influence Central reports that creators are seeing a 36% increase in both engagement and impressions.
