Facebook to let more users livestream ... just not everyone

Facebook

Update August 12: Turns out Facebook's Live streaming feature is coming to more than uber famous folk.

Eventually, Facebook will open the Mentions app, where Live lives, to verified Profiles, as discovered by TechCrunch. Currently, Mentions is only available to some verified Pages.

Verified Profiles tend to include slightly less famous people or those who don't want a verified Page and simply maintain a Profile. As TechCrunch notes, opening up Mentions (and by extension, Live) will let more entertainers, athletes, politicians and even journalists broadcast to the world.

Live is a Periscope rival with an ace up its sleeve: it creates a recording of streams that can stay on Pages in perpetuity. Periscope only makes recordings of broadcasts available for 24 hours after the stream ends.

Original article below...

Facebook has introduced Live, a live video streaming service that allows you to see into the lives of well-known music superstars, athletes and influencers. It's like Periscope, except you have to be this cool for Facebook to let you stream your own adventures.

If you do happen to be someone famous, (hi!) you'll be able to stream video through Facebook Mentions, a companion app that supposedly makes getting in touch with other high-profile individuals and fans easier than it is through the core Facebook app.

For everyone else, when a famous person you follow broadcasts a live video, it will show up on your News Feed like all other content surfaces on Facebook. If you aren't around for the live event, Facebook will add the video to that person's page for viewing at a later time.

Keep an eye out for your favorite celebrities and public figures to post a live video. If you need some live video to hold you over while you wait, Facebook encourages users to check out streams from Serena Williams, Martha Stewart, Michael Bublé.

Cameron Faulkner

Cameron is a writer at The Verge, focused on reviews, deals coverage, and news. He wrote for magazines and websites such as The Verge, TechRadar, Practical Photoshop, Polygon, Eater and Al Bawaba.