Watch out Meerkat and Periscope: Facebook is now live
Facebook continues to let it be known that it intends to win the video battle on all fronts.
Yesterday, the company added a live video feature to its Facebook Mentions product, which is available only to public figures with verified Facebook pages. Live streaming is not yet available to all Facebook users, but the addition of live video to Mentions will give celebrities a third – and perhaps more powerful - choice among current live streaming favorites Periscope and Meerkat.
"More people than ever before are sharing, discovering, and engaging with videos that they care about on Facebook,” a Facebook spokesperson told Found Remote. “Video is one of the most immersive ways for public figures to connect with their fans, so we're excited that public figures using Facebook Mentions can now share live video with their fans on Facebook."
When a Mentions user starts a Live video, it will appear in the news feeds of fans for commenting, liking, and sharing. Like with Periscope, the number of viewers and a real time stream of comments from people tuning in will appear on the broadcast. After the broadcast, the video will be published to the celebrity’s page.
Celebrities have already begun to use the feature, including The Rock, Lindsey Vonn, Lester Holt, and Luke Bryan. Among others, Serena Williams and Martha Stewart are set to use the Live feature in the coming days.
Welcome everyone to a new era of social media.
Skiing in New Zealand
Posted by Lindsey Vonn on Wednesday, August 5, 2015
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