Instagram has extended its live stream limit time to four hours from one.
The move puts the Facebook owned social network in competition with other platforms such as YouTube.
During the pandemic period, many users who streamed their concerts or shows live opted for YouTube due to the one hour live stream time limit on Instagram.
Sauti Sol in Kenya launched their ‘Midnight Train’ album through an approximately three hour live streamed concert on YouTube.
The live concert had more than 40,000 viewers and more than 210,000 viewers after 24 hours.
It was the most viewed premiere by any artiste in the country.
Despite having a huge following on Instagram, they only managed to stream bits of the event on their Instagram Live.
If you desire to use the extended live stream hours, you must have a good standing with Instagram, with no policy or intellectual property violations on your accounts.
This is to discourage users who might take advantage of the feature to stream full movies or TV series.
Instagram will also allow you to archive your live streams for up 30 days to allow you share with your fans after an event.
The archive is the same as when you archive your posts or stories.
One of the other features on Instagram is Live Now, a screen that pops up after a live has ended and on IGTV.
It shows recently hosted live streams helping users discover more relevant content.
