Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be behind the scenes of one of your favorite celebrity’s next big movie? How about what it’s like to walk down the red carpet to a Hollywood event? With live streaming apps, you can tune in and watch people all over the world as they broadcast their own big events.
Live streaming is becoming more popular as apps like Periscope and Meerkat gain more followers every day. The popularity of these apps has prompted others to pay attention and now Facebook is looking to join in on the action. With Twitter’s purchase of Periscope and the 10 million followers it has, Facebook’s “Live” has its work cut out for it, but with Facebook’s massive platform following, they seem to be up for the challenge.
Wait One Minute!
Don’t get too excited about starting your own weekly live broadcast on Facebook. Unless you’re a recognized Facebook celebrity or have a “verified” account, you won’t have access to the Live feature. Facebook Live is a feature in their stand-alone app, Mentions. This apps allows celebrities better ways to connect with their fans; on August 5, Live was made available to individuals who have the Mentions app.
Facebook Live Features
Here are some standout features you can look forward to seeing if your favorite celebrity takes part in creating live broadcasts:
- Live lets users make real-time broadcasts
- Celebs can take their fans behind the scenes of their big events, host Q&A’s, share announcements, and show their followers other interesting things that “famous” people do.
- You’ll receive notifications when the celebrity you follow is broadcasting so you don’t miss a second.
- Viewers can like and share the broadcast. The broadcaster will also be able to see comments overlaid with their live video.
- Viewers can see which friends or other VIP’s that show up to view the broadcast.
A lot people have a problem with Facebook only allowing access to Live for verified accounts, but Facebook explained the reason behind the exclusive availability by saying that limiting the use of Facebook Live is an effort to increase engagement. Celebrities like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Serena Williams, and Martha Stewart were asked to use the app to show their fans interesting aspects of their daily lives, exciting events, and make announcements to promote to app.
The push for live streaming is growing; Periscope users view 21 million minutes of videos every 24 hours (40 years’ worth of live streaming footage every day). Facebook has said that they want quality feedback as they continue to evolve and improve the Live feature. So for all us non-Facebook recognized celebrities, we’ll just have to sit patiently while Facebook decided whether or not to open their live streaming feature and enjoy the lives of the internet celebs while we wait.
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