Big news for anyone using or interested in using live video in the future! Both Instagram and Twitter are rolling out their live video features. There’s really no better time to start utilizing live video in your social media strategies. I know many people have found live video to be extremely effective for conversions, but I’m interested to see some studies as these networks continue to develop live video functionality.

I expect to see a whole lot more live video development and implementation throughout 2017, but for more information take a look at this post from Social Media Examiner.

Welcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news.To help you stay up to date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.

What’s New This Week

Instagram Rolls Out Live Video to All U.S. Users: Following an announcement a few weeks ago, Instagram is rolling out Live video in Stories “to everyone in the US over the next few days.” With this new video feature in Stories, users can instantly go live by swiping into the Stories camera mode and tapping the Live button. The Next Web reports that the live videos will disappear once the recording is done. Also, a “Top Live” section in the Explore tab will direct users to “some of the best ongoing footage” on Instagram.

Instagram Live video is rolling out to everyone in the US https://t.co/VSDfoKd4Wd pic.twitter.com/l1IgRuRHzp

— The Next Web ??? (@TheNextWeb) December 12, 2016

Snapchat Introduces Groups Feature and Two New Creative Tools: The Snapchat Groups feature offers “a new way to communicate with up to 16 friends on Snapchat.” A group can be “created while sending a Snap or when you’re making a new Chat” and makes it simple to toggle between one-on-one and group conversations on Snapchat. Just like with chats, messages sent to a group will be deleted by default within 24 hours and can only be opened and played once by each recipient.

Snapchat also rolled out two new creative tools this week called Scissors and Paintbrush. Scissors can be used “to cut out part of a Snap on the Preview Screen to turn it into a sticker.” The new Paintbrush tool can be applied to snaps in memories and turns these images into “an artistic masterpiece!”

Twitter Adds Ability to Broadcast Live Video From iOS and Android Apps: Starting this week, Twitter users “can create and Tweet live video from the Twitter app, powered by Periscope” with the tap of a button. To go live, users can simply compose a tweet and tap a new “LIVE” icon. A pre-broadcast screen opens and waits until you’re ready to “Go Live” and start broadcasting. Twitter announced that this update is “rolling out to everyone on Twitter for iOS and Android over the coming days.”

Go live straight from Twitter. Watch this video to learn how. #GoLive pic.twitter.com/tk09VOdr4t

— Twitter Video (@video) December 15, 2016

Facebook Introduces Live 360: Facebook announced “a new way to go live on Facebook” with Live 360. As the name suggests, this new format combines the ability to share “an immediate, authentic window into what’s happening in the world right now” with Live video that “immerses viewers fully into the scene, letting them explore on their own and experience a new environment” in 360 degrees.

Facebook announced “a new way to go live on Facebook” with Live 360.

Facebook launched Live 360 video this week with a National Geographic report from the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. The broadcast showcases how “people around the world will be able to discover and explore this video [format] on Facebook” and can be found on the National Geographic Facebook Page. Facebook announced that “Live 360 video will be available to more Pages via the Live API in the coming months” and will be rolled out “more broadly for all Pages and Profiles in 2017.”

Facebook launched Live 360 video this week with a National Geographic report from the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah.

Instagram Boasts 600 Million Monthly Active Users: Instagram announced that its community “has grown to more than 600 million Instagrammers,” with the last 100 million having joined in just the past six months. The platform notes that “a lot has changed this year, but the Instagram community and the diversity of expression it provides [have] remained consistent.” The site says it will continue “working to make Instagram safer than ever for connection and self-expression.”

Instagram Rolls Out Live Video and other social media news for Dec.17, 2016.

Source: Instagram Rolls Out Live Video: This Week in Social Media