Live streaming apps like Periscope and Meerkat have become quite popular this year which is why we’re seeing many other players jump into the mix, Facebook launched its own live streaming solution but it isn’t exactly available for everybody. In the first stage the feature was only provided to celebrities and public personalities with verified pages but now the company is opening up this feature to journalists as well.
The live stream feature isn’t offered through the regular Facebook app, instead it works through Facebook Mentions, an app provided to aforementioned public personalities.
Journalists with verified Facebook pages and / or profiles can start using this feature through Mentions now, this will allow them to broadcast live video to viewers who join in. They will be able to use this feature to post live to Facebook during breaking news, cover behind the scenes reports, host Q&A sessions and much more. Replays of the broadcast will be available once the live stream has finished, viewers will be able to comment and like the broadcasts.
It’s unclear though if and when Facebook will decide to open up this feature for everybody, it might happen one day, but for now you either need to be famous or need to have a verified presence as a journalist on Facebook to start using the live stream feature through Mentions.