Facebook Live Research Articles

New books & media

New books & media

Service-Less Video Multicast in 5G: Enablers and Challenges

The massive upsurge in production and demand of crowdsourced live streaming necessitates feasible and cost effective solutions in future cellular networks. Video multicast is one of the viable options to deliver live video using standardized multicast technologies, such as evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (eMBMS) architecture. However, eMBMS being a service-oriented architecture, it does not support crowdsourced live video streaming from popular providers like Twitch, YouTube Live, and Facebook Live, where millions of viewers watch live streams. This article explores the possibilities for the crowdsourced service-less video multicast in fifth generation (5G) Radio Access Network (RAN). We highlight major limitations in the standard eMBMS architecture and propose a viable solution using Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC). The main challenges related to the initiation of an eMBMS service are presented, followed by our proposed network architecture, which augments the eMBMS architecture to initiate a service-less multicast video delivery for crowdsourced live videos. We evaluate and validate the proposed architecture using a real-world live video dataset. Our results depict the feasibility of the proposed architecture to multicast crowdsourced live streams and significant savings in cost and network consumption.

What's Important: Weathering the COVID-19 Crisis: Time for Leadership, Vigilance, and Unity.

What's Important: Weathering the COVID-19 Crisis: Time for Leadership, Vigilance, and Unity.

A Snapshot of Bystander Attitudes about Mobile Live-Streaming Video in Public Settings

With the advent of mobile apps such as Periscope, Facebook Live, and now TikTok, live-streaming video has become a commonplace form of social computing. It has not been clear, however, to what extent the current ubiquity of smartphones is impacting this technology’s acceptance in everyday social situations, and how mobile contexts or affordances will affect and be affected by shifts in social norms and policy debates regarding privacy, surveillance, and intellectual property. This ethnographic-style research provides a snapshot of attitudes about the technology among a sample of US participants in two public contexts, both held outdoors in August 2016: A sports tailgating event and a meeting event. Interviews with n = 20 bystanders revealed that many are not fully aware of when their image or speech is being live-streamed in a casual context, and some want stronger notifications of and ability to consent to such broadcasting. We offer design recommendations to help bridge this socio-technical gap.

Examining the journalistic genres hybridisation in content published by newspapers on Facebook Live

ABSTRACTJournalistic appropriation of social networks and the popularisation of smartphones have influenced media content's production and the speed with which it circulates on networks. In this context, this article analyses journalistic genre hybridisation on Facebook Live streams from the newspapers Estadão (Brazil) and El Tiempo (Colombia). To conduct the case study, a content analysis was carried out on 40 videos broadcast by both newspapers on Facebook Live in July and August of 2017. The results show that this type of video favors journalistic genre hybridisation; hence, the use of hybrid genres in much of the content stands out and that this can influence the journalistic narrative in the coming years.

The scenario of e-education in covid-19 pandemic: A study on some selected Colleges of Bangladesh

The study is based on primary data collected from 30 (thirty) students, 10 (ten) online tutors, and 10 (ten) administrators of 5 (five) renowned colleges in Jashore area of Bangladesh. This paper tries to analyze their responses towards the 5 (five) distinctive variables such asfamily environment, online related costs, nature of the devices, online platforms, and related challenges of the education running in the dangerous virus called Covid-19 crisis.Findings of the study revealed that most of the respondents belong in a peaceful and calm atmosphere at home that is essential for conducting e-education, people are moderately interested to spend money on e-education purposesand amazingly habituated with mobile technology for performing their e-education during lockdown for the Covid-19 period. The study also depicted that Facebook Live is amore popular eeducation platform followed by the Zoom platform during the current pandemic situation. Based onresponses of the respondents the study identified that online tutors, learners, and administrators are unable to perform better in the e-education platform due to frequent load-shading, poor networking, operating error, and accessing error. The study suggests that concerned officials must practice easily operated online teaching mechanism, used a simple handled platform, ensure the uninterrupted electricity supply, issue a cost-effective internet package, enhance the speed of the networking system, and arrange online conferences occasionally with the participation of respective persons, etcto achievethe better scenario of e-education during the new normal situation.Small sample size and minor sample units are the major limitations of this study, thus further research is recommended to conduct focusing on large sample size as well as the representative sample units.

Reconstructing cached video stream content:- Part 2

In 2018, Horsman (2018a; 2018b) provided guidance for the reconstruction of cached stream remnants following use of the Periscope, Facebook Live and YouTube platforms. These works confirmed that video stream content can be cached to a local device when viewed via an Internet browser, and that following the provided methodology, video content can be rebuilt for subsequent viewing. This work provides an analysis of a further six platforms; Twitch, Youtube Live, Mixer, Ustream.tv, Smashcast.tv, and Younow. An analysis of localised stream caching is provided along with methodologies to view this content, ensuring support to those investigating offences where streaming may provide pertinent evidence of a criminal act or in fact be illegal per se.

Facebook Live: A Mixed-Methods Approach to Explore Individual Live Streaming Practices and Motivations on Facebook

Abstract In April 2016, Facebook launched Facebook Live. Yet, how and why people stream on Facebook Live is poorly understood. Guided by the uses and gratifications theory, we analyzed public, individual live stream videos on Facebook Live (N = 1118) from the USA, Europe and Asia and applied a questionnaire to Facebook Live users (N = 246) in the USA. We found 14 different live streaming practices, the two most common of which were chatting with random people (seen in 48% of the videos) and demonstrations of skills (seen in 10% of the videos). We also identified live streaming sessions that were problematic and challenged Facebook guidelines. From the questionnaire, we revealed that the most important motivations are (i) socializing with family and friends (reported by 38%), (ii) sharing opinions and experiences (reported by 16%) and (iii) entertainment/fun (reported by 15%). Our findings offer insight into the various personal incentives that drive people to stream on Facebook Live and thus contribute to an understanding of the social implications of a new mode of mediated interaction. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Our findings contribute novel insights into how social media usage among individual streamers is moving towards more immediate forms of interaction in a live streaming environment. Some streaming practices challenge both the Facebook community guidelines and users’ privacy. The basic motivations for streaming on Facebook Live are consistent with previous research on the uses and gratifications relating to Facebook in general. However, Facebook Live streaming practices differ with respect to how user-generated content is presented and experienced. Live streaming gives users a greater sense of presence than more traditional social media; however, Facebook Live is used by relatively few and might not represent a major shift in how we communicate.

Video-based patient education on carcinoid syndrome: Positive knowledge and behavior shift for patients.

e15697 Background: Carcinoid syndrome (CS) negatively affects quality of life (QOL), compromising physical, daily, and emotional functioning. Reticence to discuss symptoms, particularly debilitating diarrhea, perpetuates negative QOL, as does confusion of CS symptoms with other conditions and dietary challenges. To address these needs, we created video-based patient education activities with the Carcinoid Cancer Foundation (CCF) to empower patients with information and resources on CS facts, diagnosis, medical management, eating well and self-care. Methods: Two 1-hour patient education activities were broadcast live online and on-demand in 2017 and 2018 at CancerCoachLive.com , carcinoid.org, and Facebook Live for 6+ months. Features included panel discussions, slides, live polling and Q&A, and video vignettes of real patient experiences. Knowledge-focused test questions were administered at 3 time points (pre-activity, immediate post-activity, and 8-week [follow-up] post). Behavioral and communication-focused questions were also asked at follow up. Data from these questions, live poll responses, and learner-submitted questions pre-event and during live Q&A were analyzed to determine engagement, lessons learned and continuing patient needs. Results: In total, 1,893 patients took part in the activities, and attracted 39,821 Facebook engagements (“views”). Respondents (n = 116-119) reported: 57%, improved communication with their healthcare providers (HCPs) regarding CS; 44%, improved feeling of being “in-control” of health care decision; 31%, improved care behaviors for their health. Improved communication with their HCPs were specific to: their disease and symptoms, treatments, and diet. Changes in behaviors included: dietary changes, more “involved” in care decisions, asking questions of HCPs, and proactively learning about CS. Knowledge improvements were observed on 7 of 8 questions on CS facts, diet, and treatment (5 of 7 statistically significant; average effect size = 1.16; n averaged 382 pre and 96 post). Conclusions: Patient education on CS can yield immediate and sustained gains in knowledge and behavior, which may improve diagnosis, treatment, and improve patient QOL.

An Unfinished War

In May 2018, the death of 20-year-old Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzalez was recorded and streamed on Facebook Live. A U.S. border guard shot her in the head after she crossed into Texas. She was unar...

The role of live streaming in building consumer trust and engagement with social commerce sellers

Live streaming services (e.g., Facebook Live), whereby video is broadcast in real time, have been adopted by many small individual sellers as a direct selling tool. Drawing on literature in retailing, adoption behavior, and electronic commerce, this paper proposes a comprehensive framework with which to examine the relationships among customers' perceived value of live streaming, customer trust, and engagement. Symbolic value is found to have a direct and indirect effect via trust in sellers on customer engagement, while utilitarian and hedonic values are shown to affect customer engagement indirectly through customer trust in products and trust in sellers sequentially. Elucidating the role of live streaming in increasing sales and loyalty, these findings suggest different routes through which small online sellers can build customer engagement with two types of trust as mediators. Theoretical and managerial implications of this analysis for social commerce are further discussed at the conclusion of this paper.

Closed Facebook™ groups and CME credit: a new format for continuing medical education.

The International Hernia Collaboration (IHC) is a closed Facebook™ group that allows international surgeons to post clinical questions and exchange transparent feedback with the intent to optimize patient outcomes. Despite the educational value of closed FB groups, CME credits have not been available to members. To determine feasibility of and user interest in earning CME credit through social media, the IHC piloted a series of expert lectures followed by an interactive Facebook Live session as a novel pathway offering CME credit. Nine monthly lectures and Facebook Live sessions were presented. CME credit was offered for the final seven lectures. Participation in the form of views, comments, and likes was quantified by a Facebook analytics service and an engagement score, defined as [(the number of comments × 2) + (the number of reactions)], was calculated for each lecture and Facebook Live session. CME credit was obtained through a two-question quiz. Of 5400 + Facebook members of the IHC, an average of 1116 (20.4 ± 4.0%) viewed the live session event following each lecture (n = 9 events). The average Facebook engagement score for Facebook Live was 259 ± 75, a significant difference with the average Facebook engagement score on the IHC (40.8) over the same time period (p < 0.001). On average, 16 users [range 8-35, (n = 7 events)] claimed CME credit for each educational series. Closed Facebook groups can be a useful media to offer educational content and CME credit. The pilot IHC Lecture and Facebook Live series offering CME credit resulted in significantly more engagement amongst its members compared to other posts during the same time period. A small portion of participants qualified for CME credit. Future social media educational series may increase participants qualifying for CME by streamlining the interface to obtain CME credit.

Abstract B06: Social media and colorectal cancer communication: The reach of Facebook Live and Twitter chat in Utah

Abstract Background/Purpose: The purpose is to demonstrate the reach of social media in cancer communication to urban and rural populations in Utah. Online communications, tools, and aids offer easy, cost-effective ways to reach a large number of people across geographic distances. In 2008, 79% of U.S. adults were online and 80% of online adults were searching for health information. Social media provide an ideal platform to communicate and educate large audiences across vast geographic areas such as Utah, which is defined as either rural (&amp;lt;100 person/sq. mile) or frontier (&amp;lt;7 persons/sq. mile). The wide accessibility of the Internet at home and on mobile devices has allowed social media to become well established across sociodemographic groups. Previous studies have found that the use of social media has been effective in increasing knowledge in individuals reached by the media. In 2015, a community health educator (CHE) at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) was tasked to expand cancer prevention education into rural areas of Utah. The CHE led the design, implementation, and analysis of the community health needs assessment (CHNA). Participant responses in the CHNA regarding preferences for health education and educational mediums indicated that rural communities prefer in-person presentations and tele-education through widely used online applications. Thus, a social media educational component was developed and implemented to connect more Utah residents with reliable health information from an accredited source. Methods/Results: The CHE collaborated with HCI's social media team to conduct a Twitter chat and a Facebook Live event with the goal of increasing the reach of reliable and accurate cancer communication across the state of Utah. Twitter chats comprise individuals, representing themselves or an organization, who meet at a prearranged chat time to discuss a specific topic and use a unique hashtag to link public conversations. The HCI chat focused on the NCI Screen to Save (S2S) initiative aimed at starting conversations and raising awareness about colorectal cancer (CRC) screenings in targeted populations. In Utah CRC screening rates in rural and frontier areas are lower compared to the state (68.3%) and national averages (65.7%). The chat had participation from physicians, researchers, and local and national cancer organizations. The Twitter chat reached 12,244 people--4 times the average daily reach--showing a sharp increase of online engagement. Facebook Live events are live video streams that populate the newsfeed of followers, offering opportunities for direct online discussion and participation. Individuals may access the video during live steaming or at a later time. The HCI Facebook Live focused on cancer health equity, S2S, prevention efforts, and community resources. HCI's Director of Cancer Healthy Equity, a medical oncologist, led the 1-hour discussion with participation from HCI's Community Outreach Manager and questions from the Facebook community. The event reached 4,902 people and had 1,568 views, a significant rise of online engagement. Conclusion: Using social media can be an effective way to broaden the reach of cancer communication to urban and rural populations. Social media utilization can provide urban and rural populations with accurate information from a credible source (an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center) in their preferred learning medium and on their own time. Considering the number of individuals reached and hours associated with social media cancer communications, cancer educators can utilize social media communication as cost-effective educational methods. Further research is needed to determine which social media platform has the greatest reach in rural populations, how to better target rural populations with social media communications, and the effectiveness of social media on educating individuals. Citation Format: Jennyffer Morales, Garrett Harding, Janae Decker, Lisa Anderson, Alyssa Geisler, Jane Ostler, Donna Branson, Jeff Yancey, Ana Maria Lopez. Social media and colorectal cancer communication: The reach of Facebook Live and Twitter chat in Utah [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Tenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2017 Sep 25-28; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018;27(7 Suppl):Abstract nr B06.

Reconstructing streamed video content: A case study on YouTube and Facebook Live stream content in the Chrome web browser cache

With the increased popularity of online video streaming comes the risk of this technology's subsequent abuse. With a number of cases noted in 2017 where individuals have engaged with illegal or policy breaching video content, digital forensics practitioners are often tasked with investigating the subsequent ‘fingerprint’ of such acts. This is often to determine both the content of a stream in question, and, how it has been interacted with, typically from an analysis of data residing on a suspect's local device. This article provides an examination of the forensic procedures required to identify and reconstruct cached video stream data using both YouTube and Facebook Live as example case studies. Stream reconstruction methodologies are offered where results show that where a YouTube and Facebook Live video have been played, buffered video stream data can be reassembled to produce a viewable video clip of content.

AWARENESS OF SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS AMONG ENGINEERING FACULTIES AND STUDENTS IN PUDUCHERRY – A STUDY

The paper highlights the extent of awareness on the social media tools among the engineering faculties and students in Puducherry through a survey conducted with 551 respondents from nine engineering colleges. The findings revealed that more than 90 percent of the respondents were aware of social media tools in general; and particularly, Facebook Live was found to be most familiar among the respondents; 93.15 percent of the faculty respondents were aware of Instagram while 97.49 percent each of the students are most familiarized with Mention and Tweetdeck and 97.26 percent of the faculties opined that Friends request from unfamiliar person was found to be the major security concern while 94.56 percent of the students opined that Junk posting of photos and videos was found to be the major security concern. Overall, it was found that most of the respondents were aware of the social media tools and their applications for various purposes. However, the respondents should be motivated to make use of these tools for academic purposes through which the recognition of the institutions and their stakeholders in a better place with more visibility.

Can You See What I See? Quality-of-Experience Measurements of Mobile Live Video Broadcasting

Broadcasting live video directly from mobile devices is rapidly gaining popularity with applications like Periscope and Facebook Live. The quality of experience (QoE) provided by these services comprises many factors, such as quality of transmitted video, video playback stalling, end-to-end latency, and impact on battery life, and they are not yet well understood. In this article, we examine mainly the Periscope service through a comprehensive measurement study and compare it in some aspects to Facebook Live. We shed light on the usage of Periscope through analysis of crawled data and then investigate the aforementioned QoE factors through statistical analyses as well as controlled small-scale measurements using a couple of different smartphones and both versions, Android and iOS, of the two applications. We report a number of findings including the discrepancy in latency between the two most commonly used protocols, RTMP and HLS, surprising surges in bandwidth demand caused by the Periscope app’s chat feature, substantial variations in video quality, poor adaptation of video bitrate to available upstream bandwidth at the video broadcaster side, and significant power consumption caused by the applications.

Ploughing digital landscapes: How Facebook influences the evolution of live video streaming

In this article, we discuss Facebook’s strategy to influence the development of a new communication format known as live video streaming. We take this case study as an example of the ways in which Web platforms operate to harness media innovations and their social uses. The case of Facebook Live illustrates exemplary how, far from developing spontaneously, media landscapes are actively shaped by the technological and financial initiatives of their more influential players. In this article, we describe how Facebook’s technical infrastructure and partnership scheme influence the editorial organisation as well as the storytelling of live video streaming.

The Benefits of Using Facebook Live for Listening Activities in A Korean University EFL Classroom

Although the methods and mediums of receiving information have rapidly changed, the main method of presenting listening activities in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom has not. More and more people are using social networking services (SNSs) as their source for daily information, yet most EFL classrooms still use voice only recordings for listening activities. To keep up with the changes and to provide students with real authentic listening experiences, many teachers have begun to use SNSs in their classrooms. This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of using Facebook Live as an authentic source for listening activities in an EFL classroom. The data collected revealed a variety of strengths and weaknesses of this application, and showed potential for use within the classroom and for allowing students to practice listening outside the classroom.

I Spy: Addressing the Privacy Implications of Live Streaming Technology and the Current Inadequacies of the Law

This Note argues that live-streaming technology has implicated several important legal rights held by various parties, from the freedom of expression rights of the videographers/streamers themselves, to privacy rights of inadvertent participants in a third party’s live stream. Part I briefly discusses the types of streaming currently available, focusing on an explanation of live-streaming and the transition from archived content applications to live-streaming applications, and then moves on to examining the trajectory of the laws governing live-streaming technology. Additionally, Part I discusses parts of the body of both state and federal privacy laws which could apply to live-streaming. Part II of this Note applies the framework established in Part I to Facebook Live, comparing the live-streaming service to more traditional broadcasting, and discussing the rights and liabilities of live-streamers, those who may inadvertently find themselves included in a live stream, and select third parties. Part III discusses past solutions to privacy issues raised by media activities, and Part IV examines why the advent of social media live-streaming presents novel questions. Part V concludes this Note by discussing potential policy implications and asking the question: where do we go from here?

Motives for Using Facebook Live Streaming Service and Resulting Gratifications .

With an estimated 33 million users, Egypt is the largest Arab country using Facebook while Saudi Arabia comes second with 18 million users (Alhamad, 2017) In fact, this may emphasize the importance of studying the nature of the use of social media networks in general and Facebook in particular in Egypt. Less than a year after the launch of that service on Facebook, added to the timeline for all users in November 2016, there was a need to determine the nature of the use of that service that enabled users to own a low-cost media production technology, and also allowed them to use live broadcast cross their smartphones only by pressing the Go Live button. Seemingly, this is a qualitative development at the level of form and nature of use, which in turn requires researchers to take a different pathway of scientific theorizing to deal with the features of the new media scene with more coherent and complex interpretations in the light of the growing interest in social media sites in general and Facebook in particular. Therefore, the current study monitors and characterizes the motives of the Egyptian users of LSS on Facebook. It also examines the gratifications resulted from the use of both the streamers and the viewers who interact with this service in different levels, and also monitors and characterizes users ' trends towards Live Stream on Facebook as a new interactive service.