Instagram, one of the most popular social media platforms, updated the app and launched a live streaming option.

With this launch, users are able to share what they are doing, when they are doing it and where.

Differing from other apps that offer live stream, after the Instagram Live has ended, the whole video disappears and is unable to be retraced back to the user.

This update gives users the ability to “live the moment” with their audience.

Solely judging from what I witness on my feed, the peers that I am  connected with through Instagram have never done a live stream alone.

“It’s more of a social thing” Junior Carson Koy said, “not an ‘alone time’ thing. People, myself included, would only go live if they have friends do it with them. I go on it because it’s cool to see who actually starts watching your stream. It could be someone you’ve never talked to but still follow on Instagram. It creates friendship.”

“It’s also cool to know that you’re sharing with an audience that you may not know,” Koy said.

“You may not be able to tell what a person is really like until you hear the way they talk and their emotions and their body language. I feel like this live launch helps me show my personality in a more genuine way.”

Other students choose not to make their own videos, and instead watch others.

“I don’t Instagram Live often. I watch a lot of my friends’ though. I think it’s a really cool concept, even though there was already similar ones like Periscope and Facebook Live but on Instagram, it’s gone forever, kind of like a Snapchat,” Senior Yeji An explained.

“I think Instagram live is really funny because it’s kind of like video chatting. I don’t do it alone though, I would only do it with friends because it wouldn’t be as awkward as it would be if I was going solo,” Junior Stella Garland said.

What I know so far, from attending New Trier, is that I’ve only met one or two people that do not own an Instagram account.

However, not everyone that has one willingly chooses to put themselves in the hands of their followers whom they may or may not know.

For the ones who are happy to share their experiences, they’re able to because of this new launch in a popular environment.

“I did it once and it was kind of weird to know that these names that pop up on my screen are now watching whatever I decide to show on camera. When more people started joining in, it was lit,” Sophomore Haseeb Husa said.

Additionally, Instagram Live simply is not as risky as other social media applications that offer a similar live feature.

Instagram is the only application that offers a live streaming option that disappears as soon as they are ended by the user.

It’s safe in case something was said or done on camera that wasn’t meant to be shown.

It is made clear that Instagram Live is a way for us, the social media obsessed generation, to share our experiences, personality, and to make new friends.

Some think that it’s a step forward in the interactive world and some choose to keep their lives personal.