Instagram on Thursday announced “broadcast channels,” a “public, one-to-many messaging tool for creators to directly engage their followers at scale.” The feature is still being tested among a small group of creators in the US before a large-scale rollout.
Instagram users can join their favourite creators’ broadcast channels, but they will not be able to post. Creators can use broadcast channels to share the latest updates to channel members with photos, videos, text, voice notes and polls. Followers can react with emojis and participate in polls. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg started a new “Meta Channel 📢” where he will share “news and all updates on all the products” the company is building at Meta.
Instagram says it will be adding more features to broadcast channels “in the coming months,” including support for collaboration among creators, collecting questions for an AMA via question prompts, and many more. Broadcast channels are only available on mobile, and the company plans to bring the feature to Messenger and Facebook soon.
In the US, broadcast channels are available to two-time Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Chloe Kim, content creator FaZe Rug, creative director Karen cheng, streamer Valkyrae, media personality Josh Richards and a few more others. Their broadcast channels are accessible by tapping the link bio.
Creators with access can start a broadcast channel from the inbox. Once the first broadcast message is sent, followers will receive a one-time notification to join the channel. Creators interested in using the feature before its wide rollout can sign up via a waitlist.