With more and more ways to stream live video popping up, Facebook is getting into the action. I’ve talked a few times here about the emergence and popularity of video content for social media, specifically Facebook. Recently, Facebook has unveiled Facebook Live video, a streaming video service, similar to Meerkat and Periscope, where viewers are able to tune in to a live video stream from a business or personal page.
Live video has been a point of focus for Facebook in recent months, as it looks to broaden its News Feed to include more real-time content.
According to Facebook, people spend three times longer watching videos when they’re live compared to videos that are not live. To account for this, Facebook is altering its News Feed algorithm to make sure live videos appear higher in the stream.
In their latest blog post, they said:
“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.”
I’m excited to explore Facebook Live video further for my clients. It is great for marketers because it gives the ability to create an intimate, authentic connection with your audience while humanizing and personalizing your brand through behind-the-scenes video, coverage of live events, Q & A’s and more. Facebook Live also allows your audience to subscribe to your stream so that any time you are broadcasting, your audience gets a notification that you are live. I will keep you updated on my experience with Facebook Live!
