With the Covid-19 outbreak forcing people to stay indoors worldwide, many people have taken to social media platforms to showcase their lives and express their views on the current situation. One feature which is clearly being used way too often on these social media platforms is the ability to go live and this has very well caught the attention of Facebook.
The social media giant has reportedly said that over the next couple of weeks, they will be massively revamping the ‘Facebook Live’ feature which will ensure it is easier to use as well as more accessible particularly for people with lower mobile data caps. It has been mentioned that the updates will be rolling out globally.
Facebook has proposed launching features such as audio-only mode which will be aimed at users with low mobile data and automatic closed captions. The company has also mentioned that they want to give people various ways to access a particular live stream outside of Facebook. This means that Facebook will be including a ‘logged-out support’ feature which will essentially allow people who do not have an account on their social media platform to access the live stream.
Another feature that Facebook will be adding to their live streaming option is Public Switched Telephone Network support. It will allow the generation of toll-free telephone numbers for streamers so that their viewers or audience members can call while they are in the live session or broadcast.
Facebook’s other new features are more focused on users who host live events. Facebook’s Stars function feature which allows creators to earn money while they are streaming will now be expanding to musicians and cultural institutions as well. As of now, the feature is mostly used by gamers. The expansion of this feature by Facebook will compete with other popular streaming platforms such as Twitch which allows live streamers such as artists and musicians to receive donations from their audiences.
Facebook is also enabling various faith-based and education organizations whom they are partnered with to go live by providing them with mobile phone accessories. Additionally, for more professional setups which require a connected camera along with a software encoder, the social media giant is launching a feature known as “live producer”. The company believes it will make managing live streams smoother and easier.as it will include tools such as comment moderation, overlays, and clipping.
Revamping Facebook Live: Strategy To Retain Users?
With over 2.5 billion monthly active users worldwide, Facebook is the largest online network that is hosting a massive amount of content in all forms on a daily basis.
In one of the previous articles, we mentioned how many people who previously deserted or abandoned Facebook due to their massive shortcomings in privacy back in 2018 are now returning back to the platform amid the crisis. This situation has led Facebook to observe a humongous surge in user activity on their platforms.
Therefore, this begs the question whether Facebook is now trying to retain all their newly re-acquired users along with their existing user base by revamping their Facebook Live feature which will further motivate them to stick to the platform even after this perilous situation ends. Facebook is currently the biggest player in the whole social media space and the way they acquired this dominance is by being incredibly aware of the problems they could potentially solve for their user-base along with understanding which features, in particular, will help their user base stick to their platform instead of choosing other alternatives.
Another potential reason for the social media behemoth to be expanding their Facebook live feature could also be to position themselves as a key player in the B2C live streaming market which currently includes other major players such as Twitch, Snapchat, YouTube, Douyu, Bigo (YY), Instagram and more.
