Today we're announcing two updates: live video in Instagram Stories and disappearing photos and videos for groups and individual friends in Instagram Direct.

In August, we introduced Instagram Stories as a way to share all of the business moments of your day – not just the ones you want to keep on your profile. We've seen stories open up a new side of what businesses and people share on Instagram, and now, over 100 million people use them every day. With today's announcement, you'll soon have two more ways to share freely and in the moment.

Live video in Instagram Stories helps your business connect with your community at that exact moment. When you've finished, your live story disappears from the app, so you can feel more comfortable with sharing anything at any time.

It's easy to go live – simply swipe right from the feed to open the camera, tap the "Start Live Video" button and start sharing for up to an hour. Your followers may get a notification when you go live so that they can tune in. While you're live, you can pin a comment for everyone to see or turn comments off altogether.

When someone you follow starts a live story, you'll see "Live" under their profile photo in the stories bar. During the broadcast, you can comment and like as much as you want. You can also take a look at new live stories in Explore. Tap "Top live" to see exciting live stories happening at that moment and swipe right and left to easily skip around.

Live video in Instagram Stories and Explore will be rolled out globally over the next few weeks.

You can now send disappearing photos and videos directly to groups and individual friends in a spontaneous and pressure-free way.

Since launching improvements to Instagram Direct last year, the number of businesses and people using Direct each month has grown from 80 million to 300 million people around the world. In fact, many of them use group threads every day to stay in touch with their closest friends, family and followers.

Today's update keeps regular direct messages the same and adds a more visual way to connect with your closest community members, all in one convenient place.

Swipe right to access the camera to take a photo or video, then tap the arrow to send it privately. You can choose a group or create one in just a few taps, and you can also send photos or videos to individual followers at the same time. Send anything you want, from product sneak peeks to your worst selfies. Unlike other messages in Direct, these photos and videos disappear from your followers' inboxes after they have seen them. And you'll see if they replayed it or took a screenshot.

Whether your business account is set to public or private, you can only send disappearing photos and videos to people who follow you.

To open your inbox, tap the new paper aeroplane icon in the top-right corner of your feed or swipe left. You'll see disappearing photos and videos in a bar at the top. Tap the ones with blue rings to see what your friends have sent you. In a group, you can see everyone's responses, and who else has seen them, in a slideshow format. Then, when you've finished, simply tap their faded profile photo to send a quick response.

Disappearing photos and videos in Instagram Direct will start being rolled out globally today.

You can learn more about live video in Instagram Stories and disappearing photos and videos in Instagram Direct in the Instagram Help Centre.