The Power of Live Streaming

Facebook has quickly become a video juggernaut, and it’s about to put video even more front and center.

The platform is adding a tab to its mobile app dedicated solely to video. While both live and on-demand videos will be organized — and searchable — by topic and interests, as well as the pages and people users follow, live is getting priority placement at the top of the section. If users search for content or scroll to the bottom of the section, they will see on-demand clips. Other new features include the ability for users to notify friends of a live stream they’re watching as well as an interactive map that allows users to find and watch live streams from more than 60 countries.

“People love consuming live videos in the news feed, but we recognize that sometimes they’re just coming for video,” said Fidji Simo, head of product at Facebook. “We wanted to give them a dedicated space for what’s going on right now.”

Live video is a hit for Facebook, which said users on average spend three times longer watching live videos than on-demand clips. Live videos also receive 10 times more comments, the company said.

“All of these things show Facebook’s commitment to making this innovation work, and obviously they’re not satisfied with us just putting up live content, they want to help us drive people to the content,” said Jess Cagle, editorial director for People and Entertainment Weekly.

With Facebook Live’s ease of use and global reach, publishers ranging from The Washington Post to People and EW have been quick to adopt the format. The new features announced today, which will roll out over the coming weeks, are expected to drive even more people to live and on-demand content.

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