With the growing success of apps such as Periscope and Meerkat, Facebook launched its own live video feature – Facebook Live. Facebook users are able to interact with public figures live through the Mentions app – an app exclusive to celebrities with verified status.
New era of social media
The video remains on the site indefinitely, so you can catch up later if you miss it, but you can also see who else is watching the video live through notifications. The move increases Facebook’s community feel and interactional qualities. The videos can also be shared across other platforms including Twitter and Instagram, so people are always in the loop.
A spokesperson for Facebook told The Drum: “More people than ever before are sharing, discovering, and engaging with videos that they care about on Facebook.
“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.”
Facebook also announced a feature that will include news in people’s timelines, and this latest feature also enables it to evolve with the likes of Twitter and LinkedIn for businesses.
Safeguarding
Facebook has a huge emphasis on keeping abuse to a minimum, and ensuring people feel protected. The filtering system for this app means that comments are added at a readable, steady pace and celebrities will have the option to blacklist certain words or turn comments off altogether if they wish.
How it’ll be used
Facebook Live allows athletes, musicians, politicians and other influencers and public figures to give their followers a real insight into their everyday lives, taking them behind the scenes, hosting Q&A sessions and much more.
Celebrities use this feature to engage directly with their fans and grow their following. Celebs can reply to comments in real time and even hide the ones they don’t want to see.
For fans, it’s the next step up from Twitter where you can engage directly with a celebrity and know that they’ll actually see it – it’s bringing them one step closer to the public figures they love.
It’ll be interesting to see how this one takes off and whether it’ll soon be rolled out to all users.
