Facebook Takes The Lead In Live Streaming Race

January 18th, 2017 at 5:59 PM EST

Skift Take

Social networking giant, Facebook is fast becoming the go-to place for live streaming video on the Internet. Recent reports show that more people are using Facebook than any other mobile-first live streaming platform.

You don’t need to go too far back in time to remember when live streaming events was a difficult and costly process. Doing so would often require lots of expensive equipment, technical expertise and could also leave event professionals with hefty data costs. These days, all of that has changed. Practically anyone with access to the internet can now provide an HD quality video stream at virtually no cost at all.

Facebook Streams Ahead

According to recent data from UBS, Facebook has overtaken trailblazer, YouTube as the most popular place to watch streaming video online.

Live streaming video

It’s too early to say whether the race has been won but Facebook certainly isn’t resting on its laurels. Last week, it announced a new feature which allows live streaming from the web browser. A massive plus for event professionals wanting to create a live video stream on the social networking platform. Meanwhile, YouTube strengthened their offering with a feature aimed at Vloggers, called “Super Chat“.

In Conclusion

With such a low barrier to entry, and mass adoption seemingly just around the corner, live streaming is now something event professionals can easily add to their event tech arsenal. It’s too early to say which platform will reign supreme but nobody said you can only use one at a time.

Not sure which social media live stream is right for your event? Here we compare live streaming via Facebook Live, Periscope, Instagram Live and YouTube.

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