Today Facebook announced several new initiatives regarding their newest service, Facebook Live. Live is yet another feature with which Facebook wants to compete, this time with streaming apps like Periscope and Meercat. Facebook doesn’t want you to use those apps because anything that causes you to leave Facebook is anathema to Zuckerberg and his ilk.
Facebook Live first appeared for users using the Mentions app last summer. Mentions is aimed at celebrities and other public figures to give them a platform to broadcast their lives and brands more easily.
New features that were announced include Live for Groups and Events, interactive features like live reactions, replaying comments and live filters, live map, live video destination, and inviting friends. Let’s break it down.
Facebook Live Features
- Live for Groups and Events: users can now go live in Facebook Groups and Facebook Events. Live in Groups lets you broadcast to an entire group, and not necessarily the public. Live in Events lets you go live from an event such as a birthday party, or going live backstage with performers. Users can use Events to schedule Q&A sessions.
- Interactive Features: With Live Reactions, viewers can express their feelings (limited to six emotions) in real time during a broadcast. The Reactions will appear in real time and quickly disappear to give broadcasters a sense of how the audience is feeling. “It’s like hearing the crowd applaud and cheer.” Comments will be replayed during the broadcast when people watch it later, to give users the sense that they were part of it. Live filters let broadcasters add filters to their video in real time, and even draw on the screen.
- Discovering More: Now when a user watches a live broadcast, they can optionally send an invitation to a friend to watch along with you. Facebook Live will also have a dedicated hub for broadcasts, and on the mobile app there will be a Live button where the Messenger button used to be, on the bottom taskbar. On the desktop, Facebook Live Map will let users explore broadcasts around the world, as people in more than 60 countries can now use the feature.
Are you excited by these new features?
those videos that are auto playing are pretty enoying, but this seems really cool.