Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday that Instagram was rolling out a new channel feature for content creators to message and chat with all of their followers at once, starting with select U.S.-based content creators before expanding to other creators on a waitlist.
The idea of the channel is for followers who have joined it to be able to get messages and updates from their favourite content creators directly in their Instagram inbox.
“Creators can use broadcast channels to help followers stay in-the-know with the latest updates and behind-the-scenes moments using text, photo, video, voice notes and polls. Followers can react to content and participate in polls, with more features coming soon,” said an Instagram blog post published on Thursday.
A screenshot showing the new Instagram channel | Photo Credit: Instagram
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Mr. Zuckerberg promised that he would first share product and tech news on his ‘Meta Channel,’ moving forward. While users cannot write back, they can read, react, and vote in polls. The channels are slated to come to Messenger and Facebook in a few months.
There is also an option to monetise the channels through paid subscribers.
More features, such as adding multiple creators and collecting questions for the channel owners, will ship in a few months, according to the official post.
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