Instagram is killing off its live broadcast shopping feature in March.
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Instagram says that it is killing off its live broadcast shopping feature on 16 March 2023. The company did confirm that no other live broadcasting features will be affected, however.
Instagram confirmed the news via a help document on the Facebook website, noting that people “no longer be able to tag products in live broadcasts on Instagram” following the move that will take place in a month’s time.
As for why this is happening, Instagram says that it’s all about giving it the bandwidth to focus on other products and features that it believes will offer the most value to its users.
The same help page also reiterates that people can continue to set up and run their own shop on Instagram, with shopping experiences continuing across the Instagram feed, stories, Reels, and more.
The tagging system was previously used by people when they went live on Instagram, giving viewers the ability to then buy or save products for later. The feature was only available to people whose accounts were checkout-enabled, with up to 30 products able to be tagged at any one time.
This is just the latest change that Instagram is making to its user experience. The company announced in January that it was making changes to its main app interface, including the removal of the Instagram Shop option from the bottom bar entirely. Instagram also announced that it would be moving the “plus” sharing button from the top of the screen to the updated navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.
Other changes that Instagram has made of late includes a new Notes feature, allowing people to update their friends on what they’re up to. The updates then appear at the top of their friends’ direct messages, ready to be replied to.
