Instagram Now Requires 1,000 Followers for Live Streaming

California: Instagram has officially introduced a new restriction on its live streaming feature, allowing only users with at least 1,000 followers to go live. The move marks a significant shift from the platform’s previous policy, which permitted live streaming for all users regardless of their follower count.

Users with fewer than 1,000 followers have begun receiving notifications stating that their accounts are no longer eligible to use the Live feature. The message reads: “Your account is not eligible to go live. We’ve updated who can use this feature. Now, only public accounts with 1,000 or more followers can go live.”

Instagram confirmed in a statement that this is not a bug but a deliberate change intended to “enhance the live streaming experience.” However, the update has sparked frustration among users with smaller followings, many of whom regularly used the feature for personal expression or community engagement.

Additionally, the new policy bars even users with more than 1,000 followers from going live if their accounts are set to private.

Observers note that the update aligns Instagram more closely with TikTok, which already enforces a minimum follower requirement for live streaming. Similarly, Facebook also requires users to have at least 100 followers to access its live feature.

This latest change suggests a broader trend among social media platforms toward placing engagement thresholds on certain features, potentially to curb misuse and improve content quality.

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