Instagram

Facebook-owned Instagram on Thursday said more than 200 million people use Instagram Stories every day. Snap (SNAP), the parent company of Snapchat, reported that it has 161 million daily active users ahead of its IPO last month.

The 200 million figure represents how many people watch stories on Instagram every day. The company wouldn't share how many users actually post stories.

The photo-sharing service first announced it was introducing the feature in November but only in America.

Facebook, which owns Instagram, launched live video last April while Twitter rolled out in-app broadcasting in December.

Some users claimed the apparent hack increased the chances of a post reaching the coveted Explore page on the photo-sharing app.

Posts in that section are likely to get many more likes and attract followers.

Instagram confirmed to the BBC that it was a "bug that impacted engagement" when posts were tagged with Singapore.

Like on Facebook, what appears on your Instagram is based on the firm's algorithm. The spokesperson added that they have now fixed the issue.

The 'Singapore boost'

Following in the footsteps of Facebook, which owns Instagram, YouTube and Twitter's live-streaming app Periscope, Instagram has released a new feature that allows its users to broadcast live at any time.

Anyone watching can comment and react by posting emoji that pop up on the live video screen.

If it sounds familiar, it is.

But there's one major difference.

As soon as you finish your broadcast, it will disappear forever.

Benji Shomair, Facebook’s global head of Pages, described the new functionality as “one of our most frequent requests.”

Previously, if a businesses wanted to respond to customers on Facebook and Instagram, they had to open separate apps — an increasing challenge as more and more of their communication is happening on social media. (Facebook says Pages alone are seeing “nearly 5 billion comments, messages and visitor posts” each month.)

“There were some people even carrying multiple phones so that they can quickly respond to all the different things coming in,” he added.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Chicago-based Geofeedia had allowed police to "sneak in through a side door" to monitor protests.

Geofeedia said it was committed to the principles of personal privacy.

It comes amid growing concern about government access to social media.

Police are investigating after the mother of one girl featured complained.

The account, by year 12 students at Brighton Grammar, used photos of girls as young as 11 and asked people to vote for their "slut of the year".

The school said the "disgraceful" account did not reflect its values and that two boys had been suspended.

The singer/actress just beat former love Justin Bieber -- and herself -- for the title of most liked photo on Instagram.

A picture of Gomez sultrily sipping on a straw from a bottle of Coke bearing a portion of a lyric from her song "Me & The Rhythm" attracted more than 4 million likes.

The image is a nod to the beverage company's "Share a Coke and a Song" campaign, which used Gomez's music.

On Tuesday, the Facebook owned photo-and-video sharing service unveiled new features to make it easier for businesses to analyze and run ad campaigns through its mobile app.

Chris Brown and Nia Guzman have taken their battle out of the court and onto social media. Earlier this week the rapper won his custody case that allows him to continue seeing his daughter 12 days per month without supervision. The judge also ruled that he wouldn't have to increase his child support.