I’ve been streaming live video online since 2008, when I first started using uStream.tv. But with the rise of mobile and social media, streaming has grown up considerably. And the last few months have seen the release of several apps which allow anyone to stream live video directly from their mobile devices. First there was Meerkat (to which I have been partial as I started using it just before it blew up at SXSW). Next, Twitter launched Periscope (and spread some bad mojo by cutting off Meerkat from their social graph). David Beckham (yes, THAT David Beckham) recently answered with the launch of MyEye (which I have not yet tried). But all that may now be academic, because as of today Facebook has entered the live video streaming arena within the Facebook Mentions app. And it is powerful stuff! First, the bad news. Live for Facebook Mentions, as they are calling it, is currently available only to those who have verified Facebook pages. That means they are looking for public figures to help ramp things up. If you’ve got the little blue check mark by your page name, you are verified, such as my page at Facebook.com/joelcommfan. For simplicity, I’m just going to call it Facebook Live. I would expect Facebook to open up live streaming to the entire user base at some point, but for now you’ve got to have a verified account. Sorry. Launching your live stream is easy. Simply click POST at the bottom and you are presented with a number of ways to engage. Among the options is Live Video. (I’ve not yet tried Q & A, though it has piqued my curiosity!) Just as with Meerkat and Periscope, you can then enter text that will be posted with your stream. Then click the GO LIVE button. A 3-2-1 countdown signals the beginning of your stream. And voila, you are live! The video now shows in your feed and those following you may see it pop up in their feed just as any other video posted. The video will begin playing automatically, but it will also be muted. To hear, you’ll need to unmute. Here’s where it gets really interesting… When you comment in the app, it also posts the comment to the Facebook post… and vice-versa. So now the person streaming can engage with viewers in real-time (My viewers told me they experienced a delay of anywhere from 5 to 10 seconds), and the broadcasters feed is populated with comments from the conversation. THIS is indeed powerful for increasing engagement. I spent about 45 minutes in my first Facebook Live broadcast. During that time, my viewer count continually increased. By the time I accidentally ended my stream, I had about 350 concurrent viewers. What’s more, unlike Periscope and Meerkat, the recording doesn’t disappear after 24 hours. It seems to be archived on Facebook for on-demand replay with continued like, comment and share functionality perpetually available. If Periscope and Meerkat aren’t quaking in their boots, they should be. Were it not for the fact that Facebook is not yet making this available to their entire userbase, I’d say that the other services are in big trouble. The sound and audio quality of the stream is quite good, with many of my viewers saying it was superior to Periscope. Functionality is basic at this point. You can’t click links within the app (though you CAN if you visit the comments on the page), nor can you click on individual users to get more information. But I’m sure that many new features will be coming soon. I’d like the ability to embed my live and recorded streams on my site. For now, I’ll just link to the replay of my stream here so you can check it out. It wouldn’t surprise me to see an update to Facebook.com and their mobile app with a “Who’s Live Now” option to be able to instantly tune into current live streams. Facebook is very quickly going to become a premier video channel on the web. I’m excited that I got to play with Facebook Live on Day One! This is the beginning of something very big. What are your thoughts? Did Facebook just take over the live video streaming app business with one simple release?
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