Can you go live on Instagram and Facebook at the same time?

As you might already know, Facebook owns Instagram and both platforms have their own methods for live streaming. With Facebook, you will end up hosting a Facebook Livestream. On Instagram, it will be a live video in the form of a regular post or story.

Obviously, people who use both of these platforms often want to broadcast on both at the same time. After all, you want to reach as large an audience as possible with each broadcast, and you can only do that if you cover both platforms.

So how can you stream to both platforms at the same time? We will discuss your options below.

 

Use a smartphone to go live on Instagram and Facebook at the same time

If you’re planning to livestream over the phone, you’re out of luck since you can’t use one phone to broadcast to two applications at once. You can get out of the predicament like this: first broadcast in one application, and then upload the recording of this broadcast to another. But that is not the same as live streaming on two platforms. Another option is to use two phones and place them side by side in front of you. But this is also not a good solution to the problem, as not everyone has two phones.

Use a computer to go live on Instagram and Facebook at the same time

So if you want to stream to both platforms simultaneously, I highly recommend using a computer. You can use your phone to stream to one platform and your computer to another.

If you cannot broadcast through your phone and instead only want to use one PC computer, then you have two options. You can use two copies of the same software or two different software programs to stream at the same time. Also, depending on what you are streaming, you might need some silly workarounds.

Using a webcam or a peripheral camera for your broadcast makes the task more difficult because you face the same problem as with your phone’s camera. The camera can only broadcast to one destination at a time. The main workaround is to broadcast your stream to a server you control and then capture that stream for broadcast to other locations, although this requires an even more complex setup. Another option is to use cameras specifically designed for multiple outputs, although they usually have one high-quality stream for security purposes and one for monitoring. As you might have guessed, this is far from ideal either.

Use OBS to stream on Facebook and Instagram at the same time

One good option is to use Open Broadcaster or OBS. OBS Studio is an excellent free and open-source software that has a variety of streaming control options. Plus, it’s easy to get it to work on multiple platforms at once.

 

Frequently asked questions

Can I share a Facebook Live Stream to Instagram?

Even though it’s not possible to simultaneously stream to Facebook Live and Instagram Live from the same phone, you can simply share your saved Facebook Live video to Instagram TV.  

Is it better to go live on Facebook or Instagram?

While Facebook offers a permanent way to store your live streams and reuse them for content purposes, Instagram offers you more options to connect with users who may not have been your own followers initially. 

Do Facebook live videos disappear after 24 hours?

When you go live on Facebook, the video is saved and made available in your story for as long as your account is active. You can always remove it from your account if you want.