Facebook and Periscope have been seeing a surprising amount of success with their live video streaming services. YouTube is well known for their video sharing options, but their live-stream service was all but unused since it came out in 2011. In an obvious attempt to catch-up, YouTube is making a huge update to this service and making it much easier to use.
First, the live-stream option will now be available within all the YouTube mobile apps. This is going to be the biggest way to get users to start live-streaming since mobile devices are the most convenient way to do it.
The service is also going to be quite similar to the options from Facebook and Periscope. When starting any video recording users can decide whether to just record or begin streaming live. If the live option is selected, the user will be prompted to enter a video title for the live broadcast and then be given the opportunity to take a still photo to be used as the thumbnail. This thumbnail option is not available on the other two major live-stream options.
All live-streamed videos will become available as recordings so people who don’t see it live can watch it like a normal YouTube video. YouTube does claim that their service will be more reliable and faster than the other options, but of course that really remains to be seen if/when it starts being used in greater volume.
The live streaming services have already been used by marketers who can generate instant interest for sales or other events. Live-streaming videos are pushed out on Facebook apps and Twitter with the other services, which can help to attract viewers right away. YouTube doesn’t have as large of an audience that can be instantly notified, which may make it difficult for them to catch up.
