SAN FRANCISCO- Facebook Live, a new expansion in the realm of social media expanded by Facebook Inc. on Wednesday, a new feature that ranks a prominent place on the app and rolling out features, by making it easier for users to search and comment in real time.
This is a very big challenge and a big move by Facebook to online rivals, such as Twitter Inc’s Periscope live-streaming service, Snapchat’s video features and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube, as well as a challenge to broadcast television.
It cannot be denied that live video is becoming day by day an extremely competitive feature on social platforms, where all sort of companies are competing progressively to stream major sports events and exclusive video components from high-profile events such as the Oscar and Grammy awards shows.
There are many different news features that are no-joke to attract many users who are not yet hooked-up by Facebook. Infact, advertisers are mainly attracted to video that reaches a younger audience where Facebook Live offers streaming video in real time, noting that it was launched last year.
Only on Wednesday new features were added by Facebook, most importantly were the following: a map of video streams around the world, expanded search, and filters that echo those on other platforms. In addition to the aforementioned, videos can be turned into black-and-white shots, like on Facebook’s Instagram. Worth mentioning that best yet to come soon are features that will allow users to be able to add doodles, a nod to a feature on Snapchat.
Chris Cox who is Facebook’s Chief Product hosted a live video session on Wednesday to advertise the product, and stated that Facebook hopes it will be used for everything from intimate family moments, such as a baby’s first steps, celebrity-hosted question-and-answer sessions and breaking news casts.
On the other side, other partners are being paid by Facebook to use Live but Facebook would not state who they are, or reveal their identities. Nevertheless, Re/code tech news site said Facebook is paying The New York Times, BuzzFeed and the Huffington Post to use Live. For instance, Thomson Reuters is also using the service, a company spokeswoman said. Facebook’s app now features Live prominently in the display bar for many users on iOS and Android across 60 countries.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s Chief Executive said for investors in January that 500 million people watch videos on Facebook every day. And by the time Facebook’s News Feed has long had videos, largely shared from other websites such as YouTube, the company had not heavily pushed its own video products. Its executives have, however, advertised the 1.6 billion-person social media site’s video reach on earnings calls.