Facebook to Allow Verified Journalists to Broadcast Live

Facebook recently announced that it plans to plans to broaden its streaming services. Now, journalists and other public figures can offer live video to their followers on Facebook.

Mentions was previously limited to crop of major celebrities, including its Facebook Live. As of Thursday, anyone with a verified Facebook profile is able to use Facebook Mentions, an application made available earlier this year to actors, musicians and other celebrities to connect with their fans. Facebook Live, however, lets broadcasters instantly start a live video stream on Facebook.  The app will allow journalists to post live to Facebook during breaking news, for behind-the-scenes reports, or to host live Q&As with followers, among other possibilities. Facebook Mentions users can also see what topics are currently trending and check what people are saying about them or any particular topic.

Facebook says this will allow them to engage their followers and interact with peers easily. 'People love reading articles from and connecting with their favorite journalists and public figures on Facebook,' the social network announced in a blog post. 'Today, we're making Facebook Mentions and Live available to public figures with verified profiles to help them engage their followers and interact with their peers.'

'Whether you're sharing text, links, photos or something else, Mentions lets you choose the audience you want to share with,' the blog post said. For example, you can share a post so only your followers see it in News Feed.'

To get a verified profile, the company says anyone can apply, but only those who qualify will be approved. (Facebook didn’t go into detail about the criteria for approval.)

This is still a positive move though. Facebook began offering the service amid competition in live streaming from Twitter's Periscope and the independent Meerkat app, both of which launched this year. Facebook Live is the company's response to Twitter's Periscope, and even YouTube is on point with their live streaming. And of all those, Facebook definitely has the widest reach, so this could be the final push that live streaming needs to make it a common place event.

But while livestreaming may be hot in Silicon Valley and amongst software development companies in Gurgaon, it hasn’t quite taken off for most of the world. With its nearly 1.5 billion monthly users, Facebook may be in the unique position to bring livestreaming into the mainstream—at least when it comes to people willing to watch. Facebook is hoping that by broadening the scope of who can use its livestreaming capability that more journalists will use its platform.