Facebook has announced a new feature that will allow users to stream videos live. Soon users will be able to employ photos and videos to share the whole story through a photo collage service.
So far, the service is only being offered to a select group of high profile users and celebrities, and initially will only be available to a small percentage of users in the US (and will be limited to iPhones).
The social networking giant said, “Over time, the company plans to bring it to all users”, but stopped short of giving a specific timeline.
In a blogpost introducing the service, Facebook said: “Live lets you show the people you care about what you’re seeing in real time – whether visiting a new place, cooking your favorite recipe or just want to share some thoughts”.
The stream will display the number of live viewers, the names of friends who are watching and real-time comments as they are written. Videos will be saved to users’ timelines until they choose to delete them.
According to the blogpost, users will tap on Update Status to share live video, and then select the Live Video icon. A quick description can be written and a specific audience can be selected before going live.
Privacy advocates have raised concerns about such services, but analysts believe Facebook will be keen to avoid controversy as the stream would fall under ‘user-generated content’.