25+ Eye-Opening Facebook Live Statistics For 2024
Facebook Live is one of the best platforms for live streaming videos. Media companies, influencers, businesses, and your average users love to use Facebook live stream features to connect with their audience.
But how has it fared over the years? And how does it compare to its growing number of competitors?
In this post, you’ll find all the latest Facebook Live statistics and facts you need to know.
This will show you how Facebook Live users have adapted to the platform, especially during the pandemic.
You’ll also learn how different businesses are using Facebook Live to increase their sales. And there’s also information on where the technology is headed.
Editor’s picks
- Facebook’s Q1 2021 revenue is $26.17 billion. (CNBC)
- 92% of profiles posted a Facebook video. (Quintly Facebook Video Study)
- Live videos that are at least 1 hour long have better engagement. (Social Insider)
Facebook Live usage statistics and facts
A lot of people rely on Facebook Live especially since the pandemic hit. Marketers use it to promote products and services. And regular folks trust it to broadcast stories that could otherwise get left unheard.
That’s why it’s no surprise that a live broadcast made through the platform has the potential to get more engagements than a standard Facebook video.
In this section, you’ll find facts and figures that’ll prove just how effective Facebook live video can be in sharing your message.
Facebook’s Q1 2021 revenue is $26.17 billion.
Facebook is still growing strong in 2021. In its Q1 report, the company stated that its revenue for the quarter is $26.17 billion, which is up by 48% from the previous year.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the strong results are due to a number of factors including the company’s growth in the online marketplace space.
On a related note, Facebook is currently testing live streamed shopping.
Source: CNBC
Facebook Live viewers increased by 50% during March 2020.
In March 2020, Facebook Live viewers grew by as much as 50% compared to the previous month according to the company. That’s why Facebook pushed for more features that would make its live-streamed content more accessible to viewers.
Facebook further adds that the coronavirus led to more people consuming live videos and news compared to features that encourage people to go out and gather in person like Facebook Events and Marketplace.
Source: CNET
The engagement for live vs non-live videos on Facebook was similar.
Before the pandemic hit (2017), the average engagement rate of Facebook videos, whether live or not, were pretty similar. Non-live videos had an average engagement of 928 interactions while live videos had 1,043.
Many found this surprising as Facebook Live videos tend to have more comments. 25% of interactions were comments which makes sense because live sessions give the audience a chance to interact with the host directly.
Source: Buzzsumo
35% of video marketers have used Facebook Live.
In a 2019 survey, 35% of video marketers said that they have used Facebook Live as a channel. This is up from 2018’s 34%. While the 1% jump may not seem much, it’s an indication that more marketers are willing to try live streaming to connect with their audience.
The downside is that only 74% said that Facebook Live was successful for them. This is down from the previous year’s figure which was 81%.
36% of video marketers said that they plan to keep using Facebook Live for the remainder of 2019.
Source: Wyzowl State of Video Marketing 2019
92% of profiles posted a Facebook video.
Quintly analyzed 187,000 Facebook profiles and 7.5 million posts from January to July 2017. What they found is that 92% of the analyzed profiles have posted a Facebook native video—which includes Facebook Live—in their Facebook timeline.
On the other hand, only 26% of Facebook profiles shared content from YouTube which is 3x smaller than those who share Facebook videos.
Source: Quintly Facebook Video Study
Facebook Live drives user engagement.
While Facebook Live isn’t as popular when you compare it to native videos, it does drive more comments than any other video content type.
Just how engaging are Facebook Live videos? They drove an average of 28,000 comments. Native videos only receive 10,000 videos on average. Clearly, Facebook Live is the way to go if you want maximum engagement with your community.
Source: NewsWhip 2019 Guide to Publishing on Facebook
Myanmar is using Facebook Live to broadcast its revolution.
Facebook Live is important to the people of Myanmar. Although Facebook has been blocked in the country, its citizens rely on it to broadcast their anti-coup protests and show the world what’s been happening there.
On Feb 22, 2021 — the biggest day of the protests, three local outlets did 65 Facebook Live streams. Of all the streams, the most popular one had 185,000 views.
Live streamers found ways to skirt the blocks on data transmission on local mobile networks. That’s despite threats of arrest and complications due to internet blackouts.
Source: Reuters
Facebook Live can now broadcast Messenger Rooms sessions.
In order to one-up one of Facebook’s rivals—Zoom—in the video calling niche, the social media giant enabled a feature that would let its users share their Messenger Rooms sessions in real-time via Facebook Live.
That means video chats can go live on your Facebook group page or on your profile timeline.
While users will need to opt-in if they want to become part of the group discussion, anyone can watch the event live without having to do anything. That makes it a great experience for everyone.
Source: TechCrunch
Live videos that are at least 1 hour long have better engagement.
Facebook Live videos get better engagement if they are at least one hour long. According to Social Insider, the engagement increases from 0.26% to 0.46% if the live videos last over an hour.
The same source also points out that, unlike pre-recorded videos, live videos are more powerful as far as retaining the attention of users goes over a longer period.
Source: Social Insider
Facebook Live business statistics and facts
Facebook is doing what it can to make the Live experience a better one for all of its users. The social media giant is taking different steps to innovate Facebook Live. For starters, it’s combining online shopping with live streaming.
The company is also dabbing into Live Audio and podcasts to compete with other players in the space. It’s even willing to go as far as paying select creators to use its live-streaming features to reach a new audience.
And you might even start seeing pay-per-view movie releases more prominently on Facebook.
Here are a few Facebook Live statistics that you might find interesting.
Facebook is launching Live Audio Rooms and podcasts.
If you’re living in the United States, you could soon find a new kind of Facebook Live service, this time focusing on the audio space. Facebook Live Audio Rooms is coming out in the US on iOS with a roster of public figures and a few Facebook groups to start.
Facebook will also roll out its own podcast service.
Listeners can interact with the host in several ways. They can “like” the content as it streams or give it a “thumbs up” along with other emojis. There can be up to 50 speakers per session but there’s no limit on how many can listen in on the conversation.
Source: TechCrunch
Facebook is experimenting with live-streamed shopping.
Facebook Live could get more exciting for shopaholics. Facebook Live broadcasts could soon see more Live Shopping Fridays, a Facebook initiative that has large brands do weekly live-streamed shopping shows.
The initial lineup of brands includes those in the beauty, skincare, and fashion markets.
As for the content, these are far from your traditional videos. They could be a behind-the-scenes look at the business, how-to videos, or partnerships with other Facebook creators.
What makes this particularly exciting is that users can interact with brands in real-time. They can also tap on the products being featured and see more information about them without having to leave the broadcast.
Source: TechCrunch
Facebook will pay $1 billion to creators to live stream on the platform.
Facebook revealed that they’re willing to pay $1 billion to creators of all types as an incentive to post original content on the platform including live streams. Mark Zuckerberg said that the company will see this through the end of 2022.
This gives influencers a chance to earn money by using specific Facebook and Instagram features or by hitting certain milestones.
The company hopes that these influencers will reel in their young fans onto the platform. For now, this is an invite-only program. Influencers will receive notifications from Facebook if they’re eligible.
Source: NY Times
Facebook Live might soon have a pay-per-view feature.
Facebook live video streaming might soon have a pay-per-view option for sports leagues that choose to broadcast their events on the platform. This move aims to help these organizations to make more money in the changing content landscape.
For consumers, this means paying for an online ticket to watch their favorite sports teams — which can include high school teams and smaller leagues. It’s not that different from the cable pay-per-view model that people are already used to.
Facebook’s justification for pursuing a business model that’s already on its last legs is that “people are willing to pay to experience a moment”.
Source: CNBC
Facebook Live added new features during the pandemic.
To make Facebook Live videos more accessible to creators during the pandemic, Facebook released new features designed to make the platform easier to use. These are especially useful for people who don’t have a lot of mobile data.
For example, Facebook Live now has an audio-only mode. The company also added closed captions. Also, people who don’t have a Facebook account will now be able to access live content through its logged-out support.
Another great thing about the most recent changes is its update to the Stars function. This used to only allow gaming creators to make money through live streaming on Facebook. But now, even musicians and cultural institutions can use the feature.
Source: The Verge
Planet Fitness offered workout classes via Facebook Live.
During the pandemic, Planet Fitness offered free online workouts that it broadcasted through Facebook Live. And even better, people didn’t have to be a member to join the session. It was open to everyone.
Those who weren’t able to join the live stream had the option of watching the video at a later time through Planet Fitness’ Facebook page. Each session lasted 20 minutes and didn’t require viewers to own specialized equipment to follow along.
Source: Pure Wow
A movie debuted via Facebook Live event for the first time.
2021 marks the first time that a movie debuted on Facebook Live as a ticketed live event. Facebook users could watch the controversial documentary “The Outsider” for $3.99.
This move could be revolutionary as smaller filmmakers and studios have always looked for new ways to reach audiences especially in smaller markets where it’s hard to broker deals.
It also helps that a movie could potentially open worldwide on the same day where the Paid Online Events feature is available. Facebook even helped through paid promotion of the film. The company also said that it’s not taking a cut of the ticket sales or from revenue creators until 2023.
Source: Axios
Facebook Live competitor statistics and facts
Facebook Live isn’t the only live streaming platform in the market. And all of them are in a race to see which platform becomes the go-to live-streaming app.
Almost every platform is looking to add a shopping feature as it’s viewed by many as the direction consumers are headed. But while everyone is introducing new features, there are platforms like Twitch that have been on the receiving end of backlash from the community.
To understand the world of live streaming better, here are some Facebook Live competitor statistics and facts.
TikTok is competing with the Facebook Live shopping feature.
TikTok will take on Facebook Live in the live streaming shopping category soon. It will introduce new features like a tool that will allow TikTok’s most popular users to share links to products. This will help these influencers to earn money through commissions on sales.
TikTok is also introducing a feature that will help its users to buy goods with a few taps while watching live-streamed content.
If you want to learn more about the situation with TikTok, check out our roundup of TikTok statistics.
Source: Bloomberg
Twitch live streamers took a day off in protest.
Twitch is a Facebook Live alternative that has a hold over the gaming community. However, it’s been having some issues lately which resulted in its streamers taking a day off from the platform in protest.
Live video streams on Twitch have seen more and more incidents of hate raids. This is when anonymous users hijack a streamer’s comments section to post hurtful and inappropriate comments. Hate raids often target streamers that belong to marginalized groups.
To bring attention to the issue, streamers took a day off from Twitch that resulted in a drop in viewership.
Source: The Verge
YouTube Live is also testing shopping features.
YouTube Live is also planning to test shopping features with select creators and brands. According to YouTube, this is an expansion of the integrated shopping experience that the company started beta testing in early 2021.
Recently, the company tested a live-streamed one-day shopping event that focused on small businesses. This seems like a perfect fit for the brand since it already has on-demand video content that lends itself to purchases like unboxing videos, reviews, demos, shopping hauls, and the like.
And if you’re still curious about YouTube, be sure to check out our post on YouTube statistics.
Source: TechCrunch
TikTok lands a deal with UFC to live stream content.
TikTok landed a multi-year partnership with the UFC to broadcast live streams that showcase behind-the-scenes content and interactions with its athletes. The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed to the public though.
This makes total sense as UFC is the third most popular sports brand on TikTok. It has more than 6.3 million followers.
This is not the first time TikTok partnered with a sports brand as it already has a deal with London-based esports organization Tundra as well.
Source: Reuters
Controversial Facebook Live facts
Just like its competitors, Facebook Live hasn’t been without criticism. Unfortunately, there are people who have exploited Facebook Live for their own gains. And whenever that happens, the whole community suffers.
Facebook has been in the news recently because of crimes being committed while being broadcast on the platform. In one instance in Mexico, it was used to pinpoint the location of a mayoral candidate who was then killed.
However, Facebook has also been targeted by governments who feel like its live streaming feature is being used by their critics against them. And it doesn’t help that even Facebook itself admits that it’s having a hard time controlling its own live streaming feature.
Here are a few controversial Facebook Live facts to help you get a full sense of what’s been happening on the platform.
Facebook Live allowed a man to live-stream his bomb threat.
Facebook landed in hot waters for allowing a man to live-stream his bomb threat near the US Capitol for hours. The man went on to Facebook and streamed his encounter with law enforcement for hours.
The incident started around 7:30 AM but Facebook only shut down his account around 1 PM.
This incident is being compared to a similar one in 2019 where mass shootings were broadcasted live in Christchurch, New Zealand for 17 minutes on Facebook.
Source: Slate
A mayoral candidate was killed after live streaming on Facebook.
In Mexico, a mayoral candidate was gunned down after sharing her location in a Facebook Live stream. Alma Barragan was encouraging voters to meet her so that she can share her policy proposals. She was shot one hour after ending her stream.
Source: Yahoo News
Vietnam is tightening its grip on Facebook Live activity in the region.
Vietnam believes that social media sites like Facebook are anti-state. Therefore, it is increasing the scrutiny of its live stream video content.
The country’s information and communications ministry want cross-border social media platforms that operate in Vietnam to provide information on users with more than 10,000 followers.
According to the ministry, “A lot of content posted there is disinformation, causing instability and frustration in the society and inequality between domestic and foreign companies”.
Source: Reuters
Facebook is having trouble controlling Facebook Live.
Facebook itself confirmed that it’s having trouble controlling its own Facebook Live feature. This comes in the aftermath of the Christchurch incident where a shooting incident was broadcasted live on the platform.
Not only is there too much content getting uploaded on Facebook, but the company is also unable to train its AI to spot troublesome content. And the company can’t rely on its users to report real-time infringements.
Does this mean the end for Facebook Live then?
Not quite. To this day, Facebook Live is going strong and releasing improvements to work on the issue. But if more incidents like this one occur in the future, government institutions might step in to make sure that Facebook Live gets under control.
Source: Forbes
Facebook Live statistics sources
Conclusion
Overall, Facebook Live is a great live streaming platform especially for marketers and content creators. Facebook is coming up with new features that’ll make it easier to use for both broadcasters and viewers.
And with the upcoming ecommerce integrations, it’ll be an important tool for increasing sales and brand awareness.
All these statistics and facts show that Facebook Live is still in an upward trend. A lot of people still use it. So much, in fact, that it generates more engagement than non-live Facebook videos.
But will it make sense to use Facebook Live as part of your social media strategy? That’s only a question you can answer.
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