A day after Facebook announced major enhancements to its live video features, the social media giant also shared it’s upgraded way for users to find live content.
Live video on Facebook will now be highlighted in topics that trend on users’ trending sidebar, and a dedicated live content search feature will soon be added to the Facebook mobile app, the company announced April 7.
“Here, you can easily find even more videos across Facebook — just type a few keywords into the search bar at the top of the screen to discover all sorts of videos about things that matter to you, from chefs sharing their recipes to scientists explaining their breakthroughs to comedians trying out new jokes,” a Facebook blog post read.
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Facebook Live launched in the summer of 2015, and on April 6 the company beefed up the feature, giving both groups and event pages on the service the ability to share live video, added interactive features for broadcasters, and included a live map option for Facebook’s desktop site.
“Live video on Facebook is truly interactive as broadcasters engage with their commenters and respond to their suggestions and questions,” Fidji Simo, product management director for Facebook wrote in a blog post. “In fact, from initial data, we’ve seen that people comment more than 10 times more on Facebook Live videos than on regular videos. We want people watching the broadcast after the fact to feel ‘in’ on the action. To achieve this, we will replay comments as they happened during the live broadcast when people watch it later.”
Already, content companies are lining up to take advantage of the new live features on Facebook: Santa Monica, Calif.-based digital media company Tastemade used the announcement to launch live daily programming exclusively on Facebook Live, offering at least 100 shows a month.
The shows — running between 10 minutes and an hour each, and broadcast in multiple languages — will cover everything from food to travel.
“Tastemade has been a top 10 video publisher on the Facebook platform for the last year as mobile video has taken center stage among consumers and advertisers alike,” said Oren Katzeff, head of programming for Tastemade. “In the last month, we’ve produced several Facebook Live shows from the United States, Brazil, Japan, and Argentina, and have seen first hand how Facebook Live provides a new authentic way to engage audiences.”
