Livestreaming video apps Periscope and Meerkat have GoPro camera integration; now Facebook has brought its not inconsiderable resources to bear on solving the problem of enabling a mass audience to livestream video from their cellphones.
US-based Facebook users on iOS are now able to choose Live Video as an option when updating their status – this from Facebook product manager Vadim Lavrusik:
“To share live video, tap on Update Status and then select the Live Video icon. You can write a quick description and choose the audience that you want to share with before going live. During your broadcast, you’ll see the number of live viewers, the names of friends who are tuning in and a real-time stream of comments. When you end your broadcast, it will be saved on your Timeline like any other video, which you can then delete or keep for your friends to watch later.”
Although there’s been a degree of controversy about Facebook’s move into video, the ubiquity of the platform obviously offers a huge opportunity for news organisations to reach an audience where they’re likely to be spending a lot of time anyway.
Discovery is also an interesting part of the process: how do you know who’s broadcasting and when? Facebook’s massive reach is also clearly going to be a very useful asset here as well:
“You can discover live videos from your friends and public figures you follow right in News Feed. While watching a live video, you can tap the Subscribe button to get notified the next time the broadcaster goes live.”
If this process is as frictionless as described, you can look forward to a lot of live streams in your timeline in the near future.
The feature works on the latest version of the iOS app, rolling out to the rest of the world ‘in the coming weeks.’ An updated Android app is also in the works.
