Do you have friends and family literally on the other side of the world? Would you like to know where they are and what they’re doing, or should I say streaming?
Now you can, thanks to yet another Facebook new feature, Facebook live video map. It’s available only through their desktop site. It’s purpose is to show you where people are streaming worldwide through Facebook Live. Streams are indicated by blue dots on a global map. The bigger the blue dot, the more streaming there is going on in that area. Over a dot, a corresponding stream shows you where people are streaming through. Let’s say you’re watching a big blue dot over the Rio de Janeiro, while the Olympics are on. You’ll likely see lines and arrows pointing at places around the world. Think of how many internationals will be streaming through Facebook during the Olympics. But according to those who have tested it out, these streamers aren’t winning medal, trophies or sports awards. Most streamers are doing regular stuff, like playing music, eating at the new restaurant in town, working on the job, etc. It gives you a choice of streams. Suppose you hit a blue dot and get two options, one from ‘regular people’ and one from a major outlet. Which would you like to see: Celebs playing poker or your cousin in Germany and his dog performing cool pet tricks? That’s a tough choice.
One thing Facebook Live’s video map streaming service does, or tries to do, is respect your privacy. The videos that can be followed are videos the streamer make public. Private videos will be kept private. Locations will be kept vague enough to respect and protect your privacy. For example, your city may be known, but your personal address, email, social media information will not be. Because when you’re streaming around the world, who wants a bunch of crazies and stalkers to deal with?