Social Media Round-Up: Full-Screen Facebook Live

What have you missed in social media marketing news this week? Catch up on the latest and greatest in our social media round-up!

Facebook Live Goes Full Screen

Facebook Live is dominating the livestreaming video landscape right now. In just the past week on Facebook Live, astronaut Buzz Aldrin broadcast his memories of the 1969 moon landing, and ABC News partnered with Facebook to launch around-the-clock coverage of the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

Facebook is releasing a new round of improvements to its live broadcasts, which aim to enhance the experience for viewers and broadcasters. Facebook Live will now be available in full-screen mode, hiding the comments and reactions that stream below. Full-screen videos can be viewed in landscape and portrait mode on iOS devices, and portrait on Android (the landscape update will arrive for Android later this year).

Facebook is also increasing the amount of time broadcasters can record livestreaming videos. The previous maximum length for each Facebook Live session was two hours, but it will now extend up to four hours.

Twitter Simplifies Verification Process

Twitter has started streamlining the process to acquire a verified account on the network – one indicated with a blue checkmark. Users can now apply with an online form, and the application will be available worldwide within the next few days.  

Getting a verified account is still not an option for most average Twitter users, however; Twitter said in a statement:

An account may be verified if it is determined to be of public interest. Typically this includes accounts maintained by public figures and organizations in music, TV, film, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas.

Periscope Highlights & Embedded Tweets

Periscope videos, both current livestreaming broadcasts and previously recorded streams, can now be played when embedded on any website. In the past, embedded tweets containing Periscope broadcasts wouldn’t show the video, only the URL that users had to click on to access the feed. Now Periscope streams embedded in tweets will play like any other video file, on any social network or website, making it easier for users to share content. The Twitter-owned livestreaming video service has been releasing updates in an effort to stay competitive with Facebook Live.

Periscope is also launching a new feature called Highlights, which auto-generates a brief trailer for each broadcast. In an announcement, Periscope wrote:

You can watch highlights of your home feed to catch up on broadcasts you missed from the last day, highlights of somebody’s profile to get a flavor for their previous broadcasts, or highlights of any search result (like #NoBillNoBreak or “pottery”) to get a convenient overview of any topic.

Learn more about how social media can benefit your brand