Instagram Launches New ‘Channels’ Feature for Broadcasting Messages

Image: Instagram

Instagram today announced the launch of “broadcast channels,” a new feature that the social media giant said serves as “a public, one-to-many messaging tool for creators to directly engage with their followers at scale.”

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Instagram’s parent company Meta Platforms, kicked things off with “Meta Channel 📢,” a broadcast channel of his own.

“Creators can use broadcast channels to help followers stay in-the-know with the latest updates and behind-the-scenes moments using text, photo, video, voice notes and polls. Followers can react to content and participate in polls, with more features coming soon,” Instagram explained.

Broadcast channels can be created for all followers or limited to paid subscribers. Followers can join a broadcast channel by following a link to it pinned on a creator’s profile, embedded in their story, or through a one-time notification sent to all eligible followers when a creator starts a new channel. Users can only join broadcast channels on a mobile device.

Instagram is currently testing broadcast channels with select creators in the U.S. Some of the creators starting their broadcast channels at launch include gamer FaZe Rug (@fazerug), content creator Austin Sprinz (@austin_sprinz), UFC fighter Mackenzie Dern (@mackenziedern), streamer Valkyrae (@valkyrae), and more.

Instagram will begin rolling the new chat feature out to more creators soon. Those who are interested can click here (on a mobile device) and sign up to be considered for early access to broadcast channels. “Spots are limited and we will be providing early access on a rolling basis,” Instagram said.

While Meta is debuting broadcast channels with Instagram the company said the feature will soon make its way to Messenger and Facebook as well.

Instagram previously announced major changes to the app’s UI, and the social network is reportedly also working on a paid verification feature similar to Twitter’s.