Facebook Live to allow celebrities to live stream videos

Facebook has announced that they will now allow athletes, movie stars, musicians, politicians, and other influencers to live stream videos. This service will be known as Live, and will be a part of Facebook Mentions.

Live aims to provide an authentic and immersive way for celebrities to engage with their fans on Facebook. When  they start a live video, it will appear in their News Feed, where the fans are free to comment, like, or share the video with their friends. Anyone who recently interacted with the celebrities will also receive a notification when the broadcast begins. During the live stream, celebrities will be able to interact with their fans by responding to their comments in real time.

Once the broadcast  is over, the video will be published on the celebrity's’ Facebook page, where fans can view it anytime they want. this video can also be removed if they do not wish for it to be published. Amongst the first to make use of this service will be Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Serena Williams, Luke Bryan, Ricardo Kakà, Ashley Tisdale, Lester Holt, Martha Stewart, and Michael Bublé.

These are the steps needed to start a live broadcast:

1. Tap on Post and then tap on the Live Video button.
2. Add a description for your broadcast and tap the Go Live button when you're ready.
3. During your broadcast, you’ll see how many viewers you have and can respond to comments live. You can also hide comments or switch the front and back cameras of your phone.
4. End your broadcast when you're done by tapping on the Stop button.
5. Your video is automatically saved to your Facebook Page for fans to view later. However, you can remove it at any time, just like any other post.

Facebook is inviting anyone with a verified Facebook page to get Facebook Mentions and try out the Live service.