Facebook Enhances Live Video Tools with Group and Event Support
Now that Facebook's live video streaming is available to all Android and iOS device owners, the social network is enhancing how live video can be used. Members can now choose to stream live video to members of a select group only, for example. In a blog post, Facebook suggested this could be used to stream video to others in a family. Facebook has also added live video support to events. This can be used to give a live video preview or to stream the event to people who weren't able to attend.
Live video viewers can now react to what they're seeing using Live Reactions. This feature lets viewers use the same reactions that Facebook recently debuted in its News Feed, including Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, or Angry. When used with a live video, the reactions animate on top of the video and give feedback to the streamer.
To make viewing live video more social, members can now send an invitation from a video asking a friend to join in. Viewers tap the new Invite icon and then select the friend to invite. The receiver gets a push notification.
Finding live videos becomes easier with the new dedicated place, which is rolling out to app users. Marked with a video icon, the place lets members see both live and on-demand video available, and also lets them start a live video. Taking a cue from Periscope, Facebook has launched a live video map view, which show live videos currently streaming around the world.
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