Dive Brief:
- Facebook Live has introduced video metrics including total minutes viewed, total number of views and total engagement (reactions, comments and shares) for public videos on Profiles with 5,000 or more followers, and a video permalink for Pages to point viewers to current live streams as well as all archived video for that Page, both live and non-live, per a company blog post.
- For publishers and brands wanting multiple contributors to a live stream, Page administrators can now designate people in a new “live contributor” role that allows them to go live on behalf of a Page while leaving the admin in control over security and other Page functions.
- In other Facebook news, it also updated its Instant Articles mobile optimized content app to allow publishers to share multiple Instant Articles in one post. The new feature is currently being tested by BILD, BuzzFeed, El Pais, Fox News, Hindustan Times, India Times, Refinery29, The Sun, USA TODAY and The Washington Post.
Dive Insight:
In October, Facebook introduced Live API, a tool for scheduling live streaming broadcasts in advance. It is also reportedly testing ads for live video streaming. And, just last month, the social media giant launched 360 live video for a more immersive experience. Taken together with the latest refinements, the quick pace and frequency of the news underscores the how important live video is becoming for Facebook.
More broadly, Facebook has been very actively pushing video on its platform, and Facebook Live is a key component of that effort. It has encouraged celebrities and brands to take advantage of the feature and is even running a major marketing effort including linear TV to get all Facebook users engaged with the live streaming video feature. By rolling out such an extensive group of updates, it’s clear that Facebook is listening to Live’s active users and wants to extend that reach.
The latest Facebook Live updates are something of a grab bag, and beyond the new metrics, permalink and multiple contributors include: the ability to go live from a web browser to Pages, live comment pinning so publishers can highlight specific comments, and an extension of crossposting features that let publishers post archived live video clips to multiple Pages simultaneously.