Facebook Live split screen broadcasts are finally here!

April 11, 2017

Cast your mind back to the hazy days of June 2016 and you might remember that Facebook announced something very exciting at Vidcon – the ability to livestream with a friend on a split screen broadcast.

Almost a year later, some different iterations along the way in the Mentions app for verified users, and the announcement is slowly becoming a reality for most of us. Late last week, users started reporting some new functionality on the Facebook iOS app for iPhone that allowed them to invite someone watching their Live video to take part, creating a split screen Facebook Live experience.

There are a few hurdles that you currently have to jump through to broadcast alongside your friend:

You have to both be using the Facebook iOS app for iPhone (bad luck Android fans, you don’t have the functionality quite just yet)
You can only split screen broadcast from a personal profile (we’re dying to know when this is coming to Facebook Pages, Zuckerberg?)
You can only invite someone who’s already watching your video to take part – your friend has to start watching your video in order for you to invite them to take part and broadcast alongside you. This seems a bit clunky to us, but we’re sure it’s something that will get ironed out as the feature becomes more mainstream.

Our imaginations are running wild with the possibilities of what might happen when this rolls out to Pages and other apps, and we’re hoping for at least one of the following:

A Facebook Live duet between two chart-busting singers (do you reckon Adele is Facebook friends with Bieber?)
A groundbreaking interview that eschews TV and goes straight for Facebook Live (We wonder who’d be Facebook’s answer to Michael Parkinson?)
An Andy Murray Wimbledon final complete with a split screen of Judy’s face as he overcomes a difficult second set and battles his way to win
A split screen David Attenborough Facebook Live marathon, direct from the beaches of the Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica where hundreds of baby turtles hatch every year

On a more important note, this new feature will give brands the chance to collaborate with influencers, other brands, and even their fans in a way we haven’t seen before and we’re really excited about the possibilities it opens up for our clients. How would you use it?

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