Facebook launches live video streaming for celebrities

facebook live

Facebook on Wednesday announced a new video streaming feature for its Facebook Mentions app called Live. The feature allows Mentions users, which is currently limited to “verified public figures using Pages,” to quickly and easily share live video.

With Live, Facebook’s Vadim Lavrusik explains, celebrities can take fans behind the scenes, host Q&As, share announcements and more. And the social network says that The Rock, singer Luke Bryan and many others have already signed on to participate.

If you happen to be a Facebook Mentions user, starting a live stream is fairly simple. Just open the app and tap on Post > Live Video. Add a description for your broadcast and then tap Go Live. Your video will popup in the News Feeds of your Facebook fans.

Similar to other popular live video apps, streamers will see how many users are watching their broadcasts and have the ability to respond to comments in real time. Additionally, videos are automatically saved to Facebook Pages for fans to view at a later time.

Because of Mentions’ exclusivity, Live isn’t necessarily a direct threat to Meerkat or Twitter’s Periscope at the moment. But, you’d have to be crazy not to think that Facebook will eventually open up the ability to live stream video to all of its 1 billion+ users.

Source: Facebook