Facebook added a live streaming feature to its Facebook Mentions app yesterday, allowing public figures to talk to their audiences in real-time.
The feature, named Live, is meant to help public figures and celebrities (athletes, musicians, politicians and other influencers) grow and engage with their fan base by showing them behind-the-scenes footage, hosting a question and answer session, or sharing announcements.
"Live is an immersive and authentic way to connect with the public figures you care about, in real-time," Vadim Lavrusik, Facebook product manager, said in a blog post.
Facebook users will see live videos from public figures they follow in their News Feed. Users are able to comment on, like or share the video while watching a live broadcast. They will also be notified when their friends or other celebrities start watching.
The video of the live-broadcast will be available to watch afterwards on the celebrity's verified Facebook page.
Yesterday, American skier Lindsey Vonn broadcast a live video of herself skiing in New Zealand. NBC journalist Lester Holt broadcast his lunch break in Manhattan and spoke about how he hopes to use the service to connect with his audience.
In March, Twitter launched video streaming app, Periscope. The app allows anybody to live-broadcast to the world from their mobile phone. This was shortly after rival app Meerkat was launched at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas.
Facebook has not said if the live-video feature will be made available to all users, which would put it in direct competition with Periscope and Meerkat.
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