Today, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a new feature for the Instagram photo and video sharing service called Channel.
Zuckerberg explained that the (channel) feature allows content creators to post news and updates in a way that allows them to interact directly with their followers. This feature supports texts, images, polls, interactions, etc.
Zuckerberg announced the feature by launching his own broadcast channel, where he plans to post definition updates.
As of today, Instagram has begun testing the feature (channels) in the US with a select group of creators and plans to roll it out to more people in the coming months.
Content creators can use broadcast channels to keep viewers up to date with the latest news and what's going on behind the scenes.
According to Instagram, posting content on broadcast channels is limited to content creators, while subscribers only need to interact with content and take polls.
In the coming months, Instagram plans to add more features to the broadcast channel, such as the ability to invite other creators to join the channel to discuss upcoming collaborative products and take questions in Ask Me Anything sessions.
The new feature gives content creators another way to spread the latest news to fans within the app. Where they used to post stories to announce new news and updates to their fans, now they have the ability to interact more closely with fans.
According to Zuckerberg in the post, while Mita is initially rolling out broadcast channel functionality for Instagram, Mita plans to roll out these features to other services like social network Facebook and instant messaging app Messenger in the coming months. .
Once creators have access to a channel, they can create a channel from their Instagram inbox, and subscribers will receive a one-time notification to join the channel after they send their first message.
Once a channel is available, creators can also use the Join Channel tab in Stories to encourage their fans to join. YouTube users will soon be able to pin their channels to their profiles.
All Instagram users can discover broadcast channels and view their content, but notifications only reach subscribers who join the channel. Subscribers can leave or mute broadcast channels at any time and control notifications from content creators.
Streaming channels are subject to Instagram's Community Guidelines, so users can report any specific channel or content posted through these channels, which can be removed if it violates the identification policy.
Broadcast channels are designed for public chat and discovery experiences, the company said, so they're treated differently than private messages on Instagram.
Meta noted that it has tools and a review process in place to identify, review, and remove content when a broadcast channel violates its policies.