You won't be able to go Live on Instagram with less than a thousand followers
Either you have a thousand followers or forget about going Live.
Instagram has just shut the door on creators with a limited number of followers hoping to go Live.
The app now requires users to have at least 1,000 followers before they can go live. If you have fewer than a thousand followers and attempt to go live, you’ll be met with a “Your account is no longer eligible for Live” message. And that’s not just for public accounts anymore; private accounts will also be restricted from going live, even if they meet the follower threshold.
According to Meta, this move is about improving the overall Live consumption experience. The idea seems to be that fewer low-viewer streams mean a cleaner, more polished Live feed experience for users, and maybe even less server strain for Meta. But for aspiring creators, it's a slap in the face.
Oluwaseun Bamisile
Live video used to be a democratizing tool, a raw, real-time channel where anyone, regardless of their following, could connect, create, or experiment. For small creators trying to build a community, it was a key growth strategy. Now, it's behind a velvet rope.
Instagram says it wants to support creators better, but it’s hard not to see this as a way to sideline the ones who haven’t yet made it. Compared to other platforms, Instagram is drawing a hard line. TikTok, for instance, has a very flexible Live access policy. YouTube only requires 50 subscribers. Facebook requires a mere 100. Twitch, famously, has no requirement at all.
It’s hard enough to grow a following organically on Instagram without the platform taking away one of the few engagement tools available to newcomers. Plus, I think many might see this as another step in Instagram’s slow shift away from accessibility and toward polished, influencer-first content.
What do you think?
