Live Streaming on Social Media Platforms

In a world in which live video is expected to account for 17% of all web traffic by the end of 2022 (video will account for 82%!), you'd be hard-pressed to find a portion of our modern society that hasn't been altered by it. Coupled with the staggering growth in popularity of social media, live streaming has become highly accessible to anyone with a phone, social media account and good internet connection. Today, more than half the world's population uses social media and has the ability to broadcast at any moment, from anywhere, within seconds.

People choose to stream for a variety of reasons - to broadcast their daily lives to friends, promote events, promote their brand, generate revenue, create supportive communities, or amplify their impact. In fact, research shows that live streaming is a more effective way to attract larger, loyal audiences than pre-recorded videos. Live videos get watched 3x longer!

We at Livepeer.com believe in the power of live streaming in the social media sector to continue shaping our world of tomorrow.

Performers. Live streaming is elevating both individuals showcasing their talents online for the first time and professionals with sizable audiences - without venue capacity limitations, event audience size is virtually unlimited. Millions of people around the world who are talented but unknown singers, dancers, and performers, can perfect their craft and have an opportunity to amass followers at an unprecedented speed. Many start streaming from their bedroom, others use live streaming to supplement their in-person events.

Influencers. Live streaming is helping streamers and their audience build valuable relationships.  Never before have we been able to feel as connected to our favorite social media personalities, influencers, artists, and brands as we can now. Triple the watch time for live videos over pre-recorded videos also means triple the engagement. Many social media platforms have chat rooms to facilitate interactions between live stream viewers, performers and each other through comments, questions, stickers, donations, and sharing. Social media streamers entertain their audience and in turn, they and their brands are compensated in sales and advertising revenue.

Gamers. Live streaming allows gamers to create supportive communities that facilitate learning and connection. Though many viewers of gaming content are learning and developing skills to apply in their personal gaming, 48% of viewers of gaming content on Youtube in 2018 spent more time watching others play than gaming themselves. The most successful game live streamers, beloved for their narration, expressions, and communication style, manage to create communities of like-minded individuals who enjoy interacting with each other, in gaming and beyond.

At Livepeer.com, we recognize the incredible impact of live streaming and are supportive of innovation in the sector. We help live streaming social media companies do what they do best - build the best streaming experience for their users while keeping the costs of running that infrastructure low.

Growing platforms for performers, influencers, gamers, and many others looking to grow their brand on social media, tend to support a large number of live streams at a time, which often translates to unsustainable transcoding costs (read our blog post here for an introduction to transcoding). They end up reliant on existing cost-prohibitive streaming platforms to fulfill increases in live streaming demand. When it has been shown that 80% of consumers prefer to watch a video than read a blog and 63% of 18-34 year olds watch live streaming content regularly, it is safe to assume that an investment in lower cost infrastructure can pay off exponentially in the future.

At Livepeer.com, we can offer pricing to significantly reduce costs, help with quick implementation, and provide instant scalability and reliability. We help platforms free up capital that can then be re-invested into growth and innovation. Get in touch at hello@livepeer.com to learn more.