Facebook Live has thus far been a fairly big success for Facebook in the live video segment, competing with the likes of Snapchat and Periscope simply by virtue of such a huge install base. The fact that it continues to pick up new features at a phenomenal pace doesn’t hurt, of course, and the newest feature set to come in the near future is simultaneous streaming from two separate sources. The details are a bit on the complicated side and the rollout won’t happen for a while, for most people, but according to The Next Web, they talked to a pretty reliable source who said that the cool feature is definitely incoming.
At the very beginning of the rollout, starting this Monday, the feature will be available to a very specific subset of users. Specifically, it will be available to public figures using iOS devices. In order to use the feature, the two public users wishing to go live on the same stream must both have verified accounts, and must both use the Mentions app to start up the broadcast. From there, it should be much like any other session of Facebook Live, but with two different streamers. While details are a bit on the sparse side, this will likely mean that both users can see any comments and reactions in real time, as if it were going to their individual stream, and that the broadcasters will be able to see each other’s streams.
The feature will start out reserved for the very public and very prominent crowd as stated above, with a wider rollout slated to begin for certain non-verified users and brands in the United States as soon as September. Around October and November, it should start to make its way to brands around the world, and finally, to individual accounts. The feature was initially announced by Facebook back in June, at VidCon, and is on its way out the door after a relatively short polishing period. Naturally, the rollout could hit some snags as prominent users essentially function as beta testers, but at least that means that by the time it actually gets to individual users, it should be plenty stable.