It’s finally happening. Facebook, one of the largest social media networks in the world, has been dipping their hand into streaming, going against established streaming services like Twitch, Mixer, and YouTube. With the release of the Creator Program, anyone can sign up to test and stream from the Facebook website. What will Facebook bring to the table that will make it stand apart from other services?

To start, Facebook is already established as a social media platform, so they have an existing audience. Their viewer market surpasses any other website out there and the personal experiences that you make on Facebook are with friends or family. It’s already a place you love going to share your life and see others so adding live streaming almost seems like a no-brainer.

By signing up and streaming on Facebook, you can increase your discoverability and help you get your content out there. What better way to do this than by stretching your content to Instagram and Oculus as well. While live on Facebook, you’ll be live on these other platforms as well, increasing your exposure. It sounds amazing and, if they can pull it off, might be something that can turn into HUGE amounts of people watching.

Features aren’t huge right now but 1080p/60fps is their starting point for streamers, which is the golden resolution and frames for optimal streams. If you’ve ever seen a stream in 480 or 720 and 30 frames but then you see a 1080/60 stream, the difference is noticeable. 1080/60 is butter smooth and crisp, which benefits the higher end games with photo-realistic graphics.

They also speak of working with their creators to provide a higher quality streaming platform. They want to listen to their creators and have them comment on features that they want for the future. There’s already a mobile option as well, with the Creator for Facebook app appearing in iOS stores, soon Android.

Monetization has also been introduced to the platform, which they are calling “fan support.” It starts at a minimum of $3 from the desktop site but, unlike the other sites, doesn’t currently have a way to represent the contribution visually during streams.

My suggestion if you plan on streaming to Facebook is to possibly create a separate profile to stream from if you want to keep your personal account private. Streaming from your personal one will literally open the door to your life to everyone that follows you. If you don’t completely understand, check out my current page.

https://www.facebook.com/halios00

In my page, I have no personal details, my name is a character name that I use, and it keeps my life private. Not to mention I can manage all the friend requests from a separate account so I don’t have to go through them on my personal account.

To start streaming onto Facebook, head on over to the Facebook Live page and follow these simple instructions.

If you’re interested in working closely with the Facebook dev team as Facebook livestreaming continues to grow and develop new features, make sure you sign up for the Facebook for Creators program to get the inside scoop on the latest Facebook developments.

Time will tell if Facebook takes off in this category or if they just hopped on too late. They’re making their first appearance at PAX East this year in April so expect a ton of Facebook shirts, stickers, and general swag to be everywhere.