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Android users, are you ready for your close-up?
Facebook has begun rolling out its Live Video feature to devices running Android mobile software, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said Friday at a town hall Q&A session in Berlin. The company has been slowly releasing the feature to Apple’s iOS devices over the past few months.
“Live Video is one of the things I’m most excited about,” he said.
The ability to express your thoughts through a live broadcast represents the next step in Facebook’s mission to get you sharing your life with the world. Zuckerberg said he believes we’re entering an era in which video will be the primary form of content we share.
Enlarge ImageFacebook’s Live Video feature is now arriving on Android devices.
Giving everyone the ability to broadcast live like a television network is “very powerful,” Zuckerberg said.
With the new feature, Menlo Park, California-based Facebook follows Twitter’s Periscope and startup Meerkat, which drove the initial wave of live video as people began to experiment with their own broadcasts.
As the world’s largest social network, with roughly four times as many regular users as Twitter, Facebook holds a great deal of sway over the way the masses conduct their lives online. Too much sway, some might say. Consider the pushback Facebook has gotten in India over its free Internet offer. But there’s no real slowing of the juggernaut these days, as it presses ahead in areas ranging from virtual reality headsets to Internet-beaming aircraft.
Zuckerberg touched on a number of topics during his Q&A, which lasted a little over an hour and included an update on fatherhood (“it’s awesome”) and how his dog, Beast, is acclimating to the new addition to the family (he’s fine). Here are the highlights:
Hate speech: Zuckerberg took a definitive stance: “Hate speech has no place on Facebook.” He also notes that the company isn’t perfect and continually works on finding and flagging harmful speech on the site.
Privacy: “We absolutely need to do a good job on this,” he said. Facebook wants people to have complete control over their content and to know that the government or hackers can’t get to it.
If he were Twitter’s CEO: “I have no idea what to say without getting myself in a lot of trouble,” he said with a laugh. Instead, he pointed to how Facebook has grown its Instagram photo app by offering a place for celebrities and average people alike to share great raw content. Instagram is bigger than Twitter, he reminded the audience.
Artificial intelligence: “I’m very optimistic,” he said. Zuckerberg has a goal of building an AI system to power his home, getting as close to Iron Man’s Jarvis as possible. While some people fear the prospect of AI, he prefers not to be cynical about it.
A dislike button: Facebook’s new Reactions emojis are the closest thing you’ll get to one.
Advertising content: The goal is to increase the quality of ads you see. “It’s our job to make it as relevant as possible,” he said.
Virtual reality: Zuckerberg sees VR as the next step — after video — in how we share experiences. He hopes to eventually host his town hall meetings in live 360-degree video, which you could watch with a VR headset. “Maybe five years from now,” he said, “or maybe sooner.”
