The idea of ‘co-viewing’ online video is a good one: people watching simultaneously around the world while text-chatting with friends and/or strangers. It’s one reason YouTube’s new ‘Premieres’ feature is working well for artists and other creators, and it was also a good idea when Vevo invented it as ‘Watch Party’ a few years ago – an idea since taken up by Facebook. Anyway, now it seems a co-viewing feature may be coming to Instagram.
This is another scoop uncovered by researcher Jane Manchun Wong, who specialises in digging through the code of apps to find as-yet-unlaunched features.
TechCrunch reports on her findings: that Instagram’s code hints at a ‘co-watch’ feature where people will be able to watch a playlist of videos while chatting to friends. “Users could also check out ‘Suggested’ videos from Instagram, which would give it a new way to promote creators or spawn a zeitgeist moment around a video,” it reported. “It’s not certain whether users will be able to appear picture-in-picture while watching so friends can see their reactions, but that would surely be more fun.” It would – and potentially a good promotional tool for musicians too.
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