Instagram has yet another new feature which is made for Direct Messages. Users can now tap the direct icon and create a live video and sent it to friends or a group. Users can also share a live video they are watching with friends.
Prior to this, live videos sent using Direct Message can only be viewed with the video is still ongoing and you cant watch it again after it has finished. Instagram is also giving the option to users to disable this feature in the Stories settings if they don’t want to send live videos to friends. The company mentioned that they designed this feature to make it easier for people to inform others that they are going live and make it easier to send and share their live videos with friends.
This might be an attempt by them to drive traffic towards their direct messaging app called simply enough, Direct, but it would be better if all of these features could be placed in one app as it adds some convenience to it.