Facebook Live broadcasts have doubled YoY since the livestreaming feature launched in 2016

Facebook reports Facebook Live broadcasts have doubled year over year since the feature debuted in 2016, and the number of daily average broadcasts from verified publisher Pages has lifted 1.5 times during the past year.

To mark the two-year anniversary of the livestreaming feature, Facebook released a number of stats around live broadcasts on the platform. In addition to its growing usage, Facebook says Live broadcasts win six times the interactions of regular videos.

“Two years ago, we rolled out Facebook Live to people around the world, giving everyone a way to connect and share in the moment,” writes Facebook’s VP of product for video, Fidji Simo. “It has become a core part of the Facebook experience.”

In the last two years, there have been 3.5 billion total Facebook Live broadcasts and more than 150 billion reactions to Live video. According to Facebook, hundreds of millions of people have used the feature, and nearly 2 billion Facebook users have watched Live videos.

In the announcement, Simo lists a number of use cases where Live video has helped publishers connect with their audiences, including “Face the Wild” host Bear Grylls, who does a weekly Live broadcast. She also notes the issues Facebook has experienced with tragic and gruesome events being broadcast live on the site.

“The immediacy of Live brings unique challenges, and we have committed to improving how we can handle them,” writes Simo. “We have made significant progress over the past year. We’re reviewing live video more quickly, more thoroughly, and more accurately. But our work here is not done, and we’ll continue to do more to protect our community.”

Last August, Facebook elevated its video strategy with the launch of Watch, a refreshed version of the site’s existing video hub. Watch includes a number of original shows licensed by Facebook — an attempt to compete with the likes of YouTube, Netflix and Hulu.

In February, the site said it would be experimenting with adding a “hard news” section to Watch where users could find news coverage videos and breaking news events. Facebook had few details to share as to how the “hard news” section would work, but the reference to breaking news does make it sound as if Live video would play a role.