The social network is beginning to expand live streaming to more people, the company announced Thursday.
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If you can’t join your friend on a glamorous vacation, perhaps live video is the next best thing.
The feature appears to be largely the same as the one that was part of Facebook’s Mentions app for verified users, but with the ability for anyone to use it – provided you’re in the United States for now. The feature will begin rolling out today, starting with a small percentage of iOS users in the U.S.
It’s clear the addition of streaming is a way for Facebook to grab back those users streaming on other platforms like Periscope and Meerkat – though it’ll be interesting to see if anyone actually uses it.
For those who have the live-streaming feature available, it will appear as a “Live Video” option in their status update. As users broadcast, they’ll be able to see which friends are watching and get a live stream of their comments.
The social network already offered a live video feature for celebrities, public figures and journalists, Live for Facebook Mentions, but this test with a small group of U.S. iPhone users marks the first time the capability has been made available to “regular” users. You can then add, remove, or rearrange the photos and videos that are included in the collage, add a title, and then share it to your Timeline.
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When you tap the photos button, you’ll see automatically created collages based on the location and time you took them. Earlier this year, Facebook released remotely-accessible “Place Tips” to let users check out live, curated content form events. Tapping the “What’s on your mind?” prompt will bring up a drop-down menu of the types of content you can share, including live video, if you have the feature.
