Facebook Live
Facebook Live (██)
Mark Zuckerberg once touted Facebook Live as being similar to "having a TV camera in your pocket." The feature was launched for all users on April 2015, and since then, the platform has made waves in newsroom, classroom, and activist spheres. It has also enabled a new wave of citizen journalism.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Can be used with Facebook features (commenting, sharing, liking, etc, all of which allow better viewer engagement) | Dependent on data speeds and wifi quality; could be interrupted at any time. |
| Allows broadcasts to a specific group of people, including the LiveMap tool that allows public to discover ongoing broadcasts |
Audience
Facebook Live gives you the option of either broadcasting privately to a group, or publicly to your friends, followers, and beyond. It is a good idea to establish a base of followers before your first broadcast, as followers receive a notification each time you go live. An announcement before the actual broadcast also helps put you on your audience's radar and calendar.
Metrics
During your broadcast, you actively receive notifcations of the names of viewers, number of viewers and commenters. Once your broadcast is over, the video is archived as a regular Facebook video, along with metrics of engagement.
Privacy
Please look at the Facebook subsection under Distribution Tools > Link Sharing.
Security
Please look at the Facebook subsection under Distribution Tools > Link Sharing.
Case Studies
Newsroom
The New York Times was one of the first news organizations to use Facebook Live. This article by Public Editor Liz Spayd details the Dos and Don'ts, as learned by the Times' experience on the platform.
Vox Media's tech and cultural platform, The Verge, has used Facebook Live to gain a substantial audiences from many different events such as social protests in NYC to the release of the hottest new tech products. The Verge was recently live at Facebook's biggest VR event.
Additional Resources
Live best practices guide from Facebook; NPR employee training guide