Elizabeth Gobran

October 4, 2016 

Coming to You Live via Facebook

Facebook Inc. has recently tried to up their game by adding a new feature that allows you to post a live feed video to share your experience with everyone the moment it is happening. This allows celebrities to connect with their fans, and parents can share their child's piano recital on the spot. You can choose who to share your experience with or even allow your friends to watch the video later. In an effort to get the word out there, Facebook apparently paid outsiders to post videos. They even swapped the Messenger button for the red live video button on the Facebook app. 

This whole new attempt at reconnecting with their users has caused a rise in competition. Twitter, YouTube, and Alphabet Inc. are all on the lookout to view the outcome. Twitter's Periscope started it all in 2015, so everyone rose to the challenge of streaming live. While watching the stream, you can view the rush of users' comments as they voice their opinions. As users react with Facebook's custom emojis, they fly through the video screen.  

I've recently seen this new addition to Facebook as a long time user myself. I think it is an interesting touch, but I believe that they may be fighting a battle with Periscope and YouTube that they cannot win. However, having celebrities use this new feature further encourages millions of fans to try it out and promote by word of mouth or the app itself. I do believe that Facebook has a larger target market because parents/grandparents as well as teenagers are more likely to stream family events on this app while Periscope users stream events such as concerts and parties. Whether or not this new feature is successful, Facebook is one of the most downloaded apps in today's society with millions upon millions of users. It will be a very long time before Facebook takes a downfall, if it even takes a downfall.

LINK: 

Facebook Unleashes a Raft of Live-Video Updates:

http://blogs.wsj.com/personal-technology/2016/04/06/facebook-unleashes-a-raft-of-live-video-updates/?mod=ST1