YouTube is finally focusing more on live-streaming
(YouTube)
YouTube is officially baking live-streaming capabilities into its mobile app, the company announced on Thursday.
Like live-streaming rivals Periscope and Facebook Live, YouTube will let viewers leave live comments — though it doesn't have an equivalent to Facebook's emoji reactions or Periscope's little hearts.
Although YouTube points out that it's been offering live-streaming since 2011 "before it was cool," the feature was not available in the flagship YouTube app.
That has allowed mobile-focused social networks like Facebook and Twitter to get much of the attention for the live-video frenzy.
Facebook has been paying celebrities and news organizations to go Live and Twitter-owned Periscope received national recognition this week for becoming a hub for politicians when CSPAN cameras were turned off during a Congress sit-in.
Although YouTube doesn't have a social platform in the same way that Periscope does with Twitter or that Facebook has, it does have huge stars and incredible reach.
Plus, the company points out that using YouTube's infrastructure makes it "faster and more reliable than anything else out there."
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