Instagram proves to be a top contender in the social media platform. With its new live video and photo features, it is taking over as one of the most-used social media in the tech world. 

Instagram previously only offer photo, direct messaging and more recently, Stories. Now, the company is taking things further by combining the essentials of Snapchat and Periscope. This gives users a new way to share their moments with their followers.

According to Instagram, they the new features in the recent update, which is 'live video' on Instagram stories and disappearing photos and videos in Instagram Direct. These new updates take an episodic take on private messaging and video streaming. These will be available on Instagram Stories on both Android and iOS in the incoming weeks. 

"As we've grown, Instagram has become the best place to share your highlights - the amazing meal out with friends, the beautiful view," said Kevin Weil, head of product in Instagram. "but there are a lot of moments in life between your highlights," he added further. Since the new Live Video and Disappearing Direct Message's content are time-limited, this gives users fewer worries on the way they look and focus on the moment. 

Instagram launched Instagram Stories last August and now about 100 million people use it on a daily basis. In the new update, Instagram Live, which is integrated into the stories, allows you to share your video real-time. However, your followers can only watch your live feed while you are still streaming. There are no replays for it. Once your live story disappears, they can no longer view it again. This gives people more peace of mind when sharing anything and anytime. 

Using the Live Video is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is swipe your feed to the right to launch the camera and tap the button that says "Start Live Video." You can start sharing videos up to an hour. Your followers can activate notifications whenever you go live so that they can stream your live feed. It also offers a commenting feature, where your followers can post a comment, you can also pin comments or you can turn this off completely. You can also view live stories on the Explore section. Simply tap on the "Top Live to discover real time stories. 

For users who does not like sharing Instagram Stories, they can share  Disappearing Direct Message to chosen followers. They can view the message or video two times before it disappears. You can take a photo or video and choose the followers to send it privately.