Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced this channel feature of Instagram. Zuckerberg has named the Instagram channel feature Broadcast Chat. Instagram Channels feature will soon be released for Messenger and Facebook too.
Instagram Update:
Recently WhatsApp started channels for some beta users. Following the same steps, this new feature of Instagram has also finally been launched in India. According to a blog post in Meta’s newsroom, millions of creators can use this feature to connect with their followers. This feature will help creators increase their relationship with their followers. Overall, creators will be able to use broadcast channels as a public one-to-many messaging tool.
In November last year, Meta had said that it would introduce several features simultaneously for Instagram. Meta had also asked to launch digital collectibles. Apart from this, support of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) is also going to come soon on Meta’s platform
Meta has been introducing monetization features to its social media for the past few months. Instagram is eyeing influencers’ earnings from TikTok. For your information, let us tell you that billions of dollars worth of advertisements are being given on TikTok. Gift option is coming soon with Instagram Reels. After the introduction of this feature, creators will be able to earn from their fans. Let us tell you that advertisements are going to come soon in Instagram Reels also.
Launch of broadcast channel in India:
Testing of this feature started back in February. This feature has been specially created keeping the creators in mind. Using this the creator can share the message with his followers. But on the contrary, followers will not be able to reply to them. Not only this, if the creators wish, they can share poll posts and voice notes. Apart from this, he can share text, video and images. If followers want, they can also exit the channel after joining.
What are Broadcast Channels?
This feature has been introduced to crowdsource feedback with the creator’s followers. That means, with the help of broadcast channels, followers and creators can interact with each other. This feature is also amazing for followers. They can have direct conversations with their favorite creators through broadcast channels.
On the other hand, the creator can run a poll with closest followers to crowdsource follower feedback. However, unlike DMs, only creators can send messages in broadcast channels, while followers can react to content with emojis and vote in polls.
How do broadcast channels work?
According to Instagram, once a creator gets access to create a broadcast channel, followers will get a one-time notification. Anyone can search for a broadcast channel and view content, but followers who join the channel receive notifications when updates are made. There is also an option to leave or mute the broadcast channel at any time. Notifications will be default, but you can also turn it off as per your wish. Apart from invitation notifications, followers won’t get any other information about broadcast channels until they add the channel to their inbox. Once added to the inbox, it will appear among other message threads, and notifications will be triggered. That means it will look just like any other chat.