Instagram launches new feature: Channels: What features does it provide?

he opened his own channel, where he plans to share information about Meta updates in the future.

The new feature allows content creators to share public messages with multiple people simultaneously and communicate directly with their subscribers. The channels support texts, images, polls, reviews and more.

According to TechCrunch, the new feature is not yet available to everyone. Instagram has begun testing it with a few users in the U.S. (14 accounts are mentioned). The channels are expected to become available to other users of the platform in the coming months. Instagram notes that only content creators will be able to post to their channels, while their subscribers will only be able to respond, reply to content and participate in polls.

In the coming months, Instagram plans to add additional features to its channels, such as the ability to invite other content creators to discuss, for example, potential future collaborations and more.

Mark Zuckerberg said the company plans to implement this feature in Messenger and Facebook in the coming months

All users of the social network can find and watch channels, but only subscribers who subscribe to a channel will receive notifications when new content appears on that channel. Subscribers can leave or unsubscribe from channels at any time, and they can set up notifications from channel creators.

Instagram channels are meant to be public and open chats, so they behave differently than private messages on that social network. Channels are subject to Instagram's Community Principles, and people can complain about content on a particular channel or the entire channel if it violates Meta policy. The company reminds people that it has the necessary tools to identify, review or remove content from broadcast channels if they violate the social network's rules.

A few months ago, Viber created channels for both content creators and users. With the help of Viber channels, content creators can communicate with the target audience around the world, better understand their interests and provide feedback, and users can find "their" content while maintaining privacy.

Useful features such as delayed posting, in-depth analysis, and polls and quizzes are available for channel content creators. In addition, there is no limit to the number of Viber channel members. Channel superadministrators can also set up delayed posting via API to automatically send content without using a phone or computer.