How to View Live Streams on Instagram

Evan Gower September 20, 2019

First came Instagram Stories, and then we have something even better – live streams. Ever since it showed up, Instagram Live has been one of the most widely-used features on the platform. From people who want to share their moments in real time to brands that use it for marketing and promotional purposes, the whole Instagram community is abuzz with Lives.

It’s safe to say that this is a feature you couldn’t have missed so far. But let’s dive deeper into it and explore its amazing features.

How Does It Work

To go live, you only have to swipe right on your Instagram feed as if you want to post a new Story. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see the “live” option. You can either tap it or swipe right once more.

Go Live

The fun starts when you tap the “Go Live” button. You’d start streaming to your followers in real time, and some of them will receive a notification that you’re starting a live video.

You friends will then be able to send you likes and comments, so you’ll be able to engage with them in any number of ways. You can also pin certain comments so that they’re visible on top.

So, this is how you can host your own live video. But what do you do if you want to watch someone else’s?

Viewing Other People’ Lives

Spotting a person that’s going live is very easy. Just open your Instagram feed and look at the Stories bar at the top. If anybody’s going live, you should see the “live” icon beneath that person’s name. In most cases, those who are going live will show up at the beginning of the Story bar. Instagram prioritizes live streams over regular Stories, so you should have no trouble seeing those who are live at any moment in time.

Tap on their icon and you’ll be able to watch their Live. You can tap the heart button to send likes and use the comment bar next to it to join the conversation.

In addition, if you receive a notification that someone is going live, just tap it if you’re curious (or dismiss it if you’re not). The live stream will automatically open for you to jump right in.

You can also view live streams of people whom you aren’t following, but you’ll have to go to their profile for that. Instagram used to show popular Stories and Lives in the Explore tab, but this feature went away in one of the more recent updates. You can now only see popular photos and videos based on your search and view history.

As you can imagine, you can’t watch live streams of people whose accounts are set to private. You’ll have to wait for them to approve your request before you can look at their content.

Going Live with Others

Not only can you watch other users’ Lives, but you can also participate in them. From the moment you start viewing the live stream, they can invite you to join. Do that and you’ll appear in their Live in a split-screen view. Their followers will be able to see you as well.

As a matter of fact, you don’t have to wait for them to invite you. You can send a request by tapping the Request button when you see it in their Live. To confirm, tap Send Request and wait for them to accept you.

Share the Fun

Perhaps predictably, Instagram users love the Live feature. If you’re about them, now is as good a time as any to explore its many exciting features. Whenever something interesting is happening, you can share it with all your friends in just a few taps. Just as easily, you can watch their favorite moments.

Do you go live on Instagram? Don’t forget to share your experiences in the comments below.