In case you didn’t know, a few months back Facebook rolled out a new video feature to a select group of users. Celebs and some verified accounts had the chance to test out the new “Live Video” tool – Facebook’s version of “live streaming.” Pretty cool, right? The initial roll out went so well, that the feature was made available to all Facebook users a few weeks ago and earlier this week, also available on Android. With apps like Periscope gaining popularity, it’s not surprising that Facebook has also developed a live streaming capability.
Image via Facebook
According to the Facebook blog, “Over the last three months Facebook Live video has become more and more popular and more and more people and Pages are creating and watching live videos.” And, when you think about it, don’t you love watching live video? It’s totally captivating! As this new feature has gained popularity, Facebook has been rethinking the algorithm that pumps content into the newsfeed. Here’s what they had to say earlier this week,
“Now that more and more people are watching Live videos, we are considering Live Videos as a new content type – different from normal videos – and learning how to rank them for people in News Feed. As a first step, we are making a small update to News Feed so that Facebook Live videos are more likely to appear higher in News Feed when those videos are actually live, compared to after they are no longer live. People spend more than 3x more time watching a Facebook Live video on average compared to a video that’s no longer live. This is because Facebook Live videos are more interesting in the moment than after the fact.” (viaFacebook blog)
It’s pretty incredible how social media has evolved and changed over the years, don’t you agree? Just a few years back, these tools were brand new to the market and today we’re talking about how to improve live stream video experiences – a testament to the constant evolution of digital platforms. Have you done much experimenting with live stream video and have you noticed these updates in your Facebook newsfeed?
