It’s no surprise that we are covering more news from Instagram, they’ve been busy keeping up with the likes of Snapchat. Adding Stories and disappearing private messages were just a couple of their latest moves. Today they’ve released the first change that will allow them to pass up Snapchat in the Social Media “engagement” game. Today, they added Live Video!
Live video has been available on Facebook for a while now so it’s a bit of a no brainer that it’s been added to their other assets. There are a few major differences between Facebook and Instagram’s live video. First, it’s the fact that Instagram’s videos disappear. Unlike making a live video on Facebook, where it will upload to your timeline and allow you to share it, Instagram’s version will end and never be seen again when you hit finish.
Another major difference is the inability to share while you’re broadcasting. These features may change but for now they set it apart quite a bit from Facebook’s live option. The ability to go live at all is super trendy and sets Instagram apart from Snapchat which is a major win for them. It doesn’t change our view on Instagram but it can teach us a couple of things.
What Parents Should Know.
Snapchat is in every Social Media conversation right now, even when we’re talking about a different app. When apps like Instagram work so hard to keep up with what’s popular it’s a major sign for us as parents. We can see that live video is becoming popular on all Social Media platforms. The transparency and realism of Live Video is en vogue these days. Your kids want something real, raw, and in their face.
As parents we have to keep this in mind while we raise our kids and keep them safe online. They are looking for something real. We have to be real with them when we are teaching them how to make good decisions. Whether it’s decisions online or offline they have to be taught in a way that your kids know is real. Your transparency and openness are critical because they can see through any facade.
Usually I try to give you tech advice on Safe.BecauseFamily.org, but this post is all about using the trends in technology to help us learn more about our kids.