Meta has announced a new broadcast chat feature called “Channels” on Instagram. Channels lets creators share public, one-to-many messages directly to their followers which keeps them engaged. The new feature supports text, images, polls, reactions and more. The feature was announced by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg using his own broadcast channel.
Channels is being tested with a select creators in the US, but Instagram plans to expand the feature in the next couple of months. With Channels, creators can keep their followers updated and see behind-the-scenes moments. While creators can post on Channels, followers are only limited to reacting to content and participating in polls.
Instagram plans to add a couple of more feature to Channels in the coming months. Some of the channels being planned include the ability to bring another creator into the channel to chat on upcoming collabs and collect questions for an AMA via question prompts.
Channels offers creators new way to keep their followers updated within the Instagram app. Previously, creators have had to keep their followers updated by sharing stories. The new feature, however, now allows them to engage with their followers directly, and get feedback on certain things and promote their content.
“Creators can use broadcast channels as a casual, quick way to keep followers up-to-date. They can use text, photo, video and voice notes to share their latest updates and behind-the-scenes moments and even create polls to crowdsource fan feedback. Only creators can send messages, while followers can react to content and vote in polls.”
Channels, according to Zuckerberg, will ultimately be extended to Messenger and Facebook in the coming months.
Upon gaining access to channels, you can start one from your Instagram inbox. After sending your first message, your followers will receive a one-time notification to join the channel. When your channel goes live, you can also encourage your followers to join using the “join channel” sticker in Stories. Soon, creators on Instagram will be able to pin their channel to their profile to make it easily accessible.
While all users on Instagram will be able to discover the broadcast channels, and view the content, only followers who join the channel will receive notifications when the creator posts updates. Followers will be able to exit or mute broadcast channels at any time, and will have the edge when it comes to controlling notifications from creators.
