Facebook is introducing live video broadcast feature to iOS and Android users across the globe. The live video broadcast feature was first made available on the iOS platform in the US market and is today available generally.
We’re excited to announce that in the next week we are going to start rolling out the ability for people on Android to share live video. We’re starting our Android rollout in the U.S., with more countries coming soon.
You can access the live video broadcast feature by choosing “What’s on your mind?” at the top of News Feed and then selecting the Live Video icon. After typing out a description of the video, users can put their best moments out for the world to see, live. Facebook has also allowed users on the social networking site to comment live on the videos, too. Users can even view the number of people watching their video as it happens. Once the action comes to a halt, the video remains on the Timeline, unless the user chooses to delete it.
Twitter had launched a similar feature available via its subsidiary, Periscope that allows users to broadcast videos live a few months ago.
While the service was introduced earlier last year, in August 2015, Facebook launched Live for celebrities to broadcast real-time videos for their fans and followers. The service was fairly similar to Periscope and Meerkat, except for the fact that the videos uploaded on Facebook could be stored indefinitely. This service was then gradually brought to ‘Verified Pages’ that included sports teams, TV shows, bands, brands, authors, actors etc a couple of months ago and then in January, common users over iOS got access to this feature in the US.
From then on, users from more than 30 countries have been enjoying Live over iOS.
Live videos are a great tool for Facebook to engage more users on its platform.
Facebook stated that on average people watch a live video more than three times longer when it is live compared to when it is not live. The company added that Android users enjoy live streams more than anyone else, evident by the fact that more than 50% of live streamers are Android users, and bringing this service to this platform will benefit both the company and the users.
