Dive Brief:
- Tumblr is launching a live video feature on Tuesday.
- While few official details about the feature are out, Tumblr has been enigmatically teasing the new feature in a blog post.
- The social media blogging site has been promoting upcoming live streams, including a live broadcast from the surface of Mars, a Q&A session with artist Adam J. Kurtz, and a basketball lesson from a Harlem Globetrotter.
Dive Insight:
Live video has become a major part of social media platforms in the last year, with Facebook Live leading the way. Twitter announced a live video button last week that includes embeddable Periscope feeds, while live streaming video has been a core part of the Snapchat experience since the app's launch in 2011.
The ongoing rise of social media users accessing their favorite platforms via mobile devices has made video an important type of content for users and marketers alike. The trend may be best exemplified by Facebook emphasizing video in news feeds via an algorithm adjustment last year, followed by the launch of its Facebook Live feature. The live feature allows everyone from celebrities and marketers to its entire user base to live stream video and save the content for viewing later on.
It's unclear if the live video feature will be a native part of Tumblr's technology, or if it's a tool that takes advantage of the existing live video tools in the marketplace, according to TechCrunch.
This comes at a time when parent company Yahoo is auctioning off its digital assets to the highest bidder. Tumblr, as well as Yahoo, has been challenged in creating revenue, so a live video feature would be an indication that the blogging platform is keeping up with the latest trending technology.