Instagram introduced face filters back in May[1] for posts and direct messages, and the Facebook[2]-owned platform is now making it available while live streaming as well, furthering its rivalry with Snapchat[3]. As of Thursday, Instagrammers will be able to use various face filters while live streaming.
To use face filter while live broadcasting, the Instagram[4] says users can tap on the face icon on the bottom right corner before or during the live stream. While streaming, users can switch between all the filters, and the company has also thrown in an extra sunglasses filter just for live video for the nest week, according to the blog post[5].
Users can also share their face filter live video to Stories once the broadcast is over since Instagram added the ability to do that a few months ago[6], or they can choose to "Discard" it if they want the video to disappear completely. The new feature has begun rolling out and should reach all users in the next few weeks.
Instagram in recent years has added a number of new features such as Stories, live video, face filters and so on to overtake rival Snapchat. Its efforts have largely paid off as in April it registered 700 million users[7] and in June it announced[8] over 250 million daily active users for Stories alone. These numbers are higher than Snapchat, which has been struggling to attract users[9]....