Zuckerberg introduces a new Instagram function.
Meta’s Instagram has introduced a ‘channels’ feature similar to the one unveiled in 2015 by its competitor Telegram Read Full Article at RT.com
Deepak
The social media platform has unveiled "channels," a feature that its rival Telegram first adopted back in 2015.
The new "channels" feature on Meta's Instagram lets users exchange text, video, and photo updates with all of their followers. On Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a link to his personal channel.
Zuckerberg stated in his article that he will publish "news and updates on all the products and innovation we're doing at Meta" on his own channel. He added that "Messenger and Facebook in the next months" will both get the channels feature.
A similar novelty for users has for years been one of the trademark features of the messaging app Telegram.
A separate statement published on Meta’s website the same day explained that the new “public one-to-many messaging tool” lets creators “directly engage with their followers at scale.”
While the creator can publish content, followers of a channel may only react to it and vote in polls.
The tech conglomerate said additional features, including the “ability to bring another creator into the channel to discuss upcoming collabs or crowdsource questions for an ‘ask me anything’” will be added in the near future.
Meta said that mixed martial artists Gilbert Burns and Mackenzie Dern, as well as media personality and entrepreneur Josh Richards are among those who had started their own channels on Instagram on the first day the feature was made available.
Instagram’s parent company is drumming up interest by adding that the spots are currently “limited” and anyone interested can sign up to be “considered for early access.”
Creators also have an option to maintain a channel that is open to paid subscribers only.
If a channel goes against any Meta policies, Instagram users can report both the channel itself or “specific content shared in the channel.” The social media giant warned that it has “tools and reviewers to help” seek out and remove such content.
Public channels were first introduced by the messaging service Telegram in September 2015, and ever since then, the function has grown in popularity. Politicians, media organisations, and celebrities all use Telegram channels to spread their thoughts.
