Instagram is expanding its Broadcast Channels to Australia and the rest of the world, giving millions of creators a new way to directly engage with their followers at scale in real-time.
Broadcast Channels are a public, one-to-many messaging tool creators can use to help followers stay in the know with the latest updates and behind-the-scenes moments using text, photo, video, voice notes and polls.
Mark Zuckerberg – founder, chairman and CEO of Meta – the parent company of Facebook and Instagram – announced the news on Friday, revealing that more features coming soon.
Broadcast Channel is a way creators can have a casual, quick way to keep followers up-to-date. Only creators can send messages, while followers can react to content and vote in polls.
Instagram also noted that they are sharing updates on new and upcoming features aimed at making Broadcast Channels more fun and interactive:
• The platform is testing additional features such as the ability for creators to use question prompts to gather feedback and responses from followers and a dedicated channels tab in the inbox so people can easily access their joined channels and discover new ones.
• Collaborators enables creators to invite other creators (or fans) to participate in their broadcast channel. Whether it’s an expert interview or a casual hangout, fans can now follow conversations between their favourite creators and their special guests.
• Lastly, Instagram said they are exploring new controls to help creators manage and promote their Broadcast Channels, like setting an expiration date and time on their channel, adding a moderator to help manage members, messages and content and sharing a link or even a preview to Stories to encourage followers to join.
To join a broadcast channel, Instagram users can:
• Access the link to the broadcast channel on a mobile device via a creator’s Story sticker, the link pinned to their profile or, as an existing follower, a one-time notification sent when a creator starts a new channel.
• Tap “Join broadcast channel.” People not yet following the creator will be prompted to do so.
• After joining the channel, it will appear in the Instagram inbox next to other message threads.
• Followers can react to content and vote in polls, but cannot send messages. They can also share a link to their favourite creators’ Broadcast Channels so friends can follow and join.
• Anyone can discover the broadcast channel and view the content. All followers will receive the first notification inviting them to join the broadcast channel; however, only followers who have joined will receive subsequent notifications for new updates. Followers can leave or mute Broadcast Channels at any time, or turn off a creator’s broadcast channel notifications entirely.
