Facebook Slightly Loosens Grip On Access To Its Live Streaming Video Feature

Facebook has loosened the reins on its live streaming video feature, today giving access to people with verified profiles.

Facebook launched the feature, called “Live,” in August, within its Mentions app, which meant that only public figures with verified Pages could create live video streams. That was seen as testing of the waters already being navigated by Periscope and Meerkat, the live-streaming apps that rose to prominence during the early part of this year.

Now, Facebook is diving in deeper, while still maintaining a good bit of control. In its announcement today, Facebook touted the Live feature as a tool for journalists, and it’s likely that it will prove very popular among that group. You’ll probably be seeing a lot more live video from news events or journalists chatting about their work in your News Feed.

Regular Facebook users and marketers are still being shut out. We asked Facebook if it plans to extend access to the public and business and brand Pages.

The response from a spokesperson: “Right now, we’re focused on iterating on the product. With this update, Facebook is aiming to improve the user experience for people and public figures alike. This update improves the way that people on Facebook can connect with the influencers and stories they care about. Facebook will be listening to feedback from both people and Verified users as they continue to evolve this product.”

So for now, the VIP ropes are still up. But Facebook is at least allowing people to apply to be verified. Unlike Twitter’s “don’t call us, we’ll call you” verification process, Facebook offers a form to apply for a verified badge. Product manager Vadim Lavrusik told TechCrunch that Facebook has thousands of verified users and is constantly adding more.

As of today, those who have the blue badge now have access to the Mentions app, which gives them access to Live. From the app, which is only available for iOS devices, users can launch a live event that will appear in their followers’ News Feeds; in some cases, fans will receive a notification. People can comment in real time with the comments displaying on the stream. The video remains viewable on Facebook indefinitely, unlike Meerkat and Periscope, in which streams disappear either immediately or in 24 hours.