Facebook has announced this week that it is testing out live
video feed feature that will allow users to broadcast a live video, similar to
how users make a written status update now. The live video feed will become an
alternative way to update a status. Friends will have the option to like and
comment on the video as it is being aired. Friends will also be notified when
you go live so that they can tune in. Once the video is streamed live, it will
be added to the user’s timeline similar to other status updates.
This move brings Facebook squarely into the live streaming
space. This is being viewed as an important move for Facebook as videos is
touted to be the future of Facebook. We already have most video views on Facebook
and now Facebook is moving toward having users upload live videos directly
versus getting videos posted from other sites.
Live videos also ties in well with Facebook’s strategy of being a channel where people are engaging more in real time versus something
that they use at their leisure. Last week I posted about Facebook Work, a platform
Facebook is providing to get people to communicate and collaborate at work. The
live video feed, while completely different from Facebook Work is yet another
channel that allows Facebook users to engage in real time. This is a move
toward allowing users to be ‘active users’ who are live streaming and engaging
with an audience. It allows Facebook to achieve its goal of being live, more immediate
(similar to Twitter and Snapchat).
It will be interesting to see how the competition unfolds in
the live streaming market with Facebook’s entry. Facebook’s sheer scale and a
billion + user base seems to give it immediate advantage. YouTube is probably
the biggest competitor Facebook will have in this space. Competitors like Meerkat
(still new in the space and more focused) will have to define a strategy to
compete with Facebook’s scale.
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