Earlier this year, we looked at Facebook’s brand new live streaming service, Facebook Live, and what its release might mean for rivals. With the platform’s increasing popularity, does this spell trouble for competitors such as Periscope?

At Facebook’s recent F8 Developers’ conference, the company revealed new updates to Facebook Live, showing video apps such as Periscope and Snapchat that it’s a force to be reckoned with. Updates included the ability for users to share live videos directly to certain groups of people, add doodles and filters, post animated reactions during video plays, and see a map of all current broadcasts around the world. Users will now also be able to invite friends to a live video, see live reactions and comments, and replay these once the video has ended. There’s now also a new web hub called 24Live, an area that will showcase the best Facebook Live videos from the past 24 hours. These add-ons certainly make Facebook Live sound as though it firmly wants to compete with the likes of Periscope and Snapchat, with live reactions and doodles sounding like very similar features.

And Facebook is clear that it wants to push its new service as hard as it can- the company revealed that its users are 10 times more likely to engage with live videos than other types, meaning live streaming on the site should soon become a priority for brands and advertisers. Already, Facebook has started updating its NewFeed algorithm to favour live broadcasts as opposed to older pre-recorded videos, in the hopes of becoming a platform more suited to live content in the way that Twitter and Periscope are. And added to this, Facebook has also revealed that it plans to pay top content creators and celebrities to post live streams- clearly the revenue generated by these will be huge.

Periscope meanwhile, has announced that over the next few weeks, it will be launching new updates including the ability to search for broadcasts by title or topic, and excitingly, drone support. The first feature will enable users to see suggested topics, and then tap the broadcast button in the topic’s search results. In addition, a new topic entitled “First Scope”, will allow users to welcome new broadcasters to Periscope and see their videos. With drone support, users will be able to connect their iPhones to a compatible DJI drone remote. From there, the app will immediately pull in the user’s drone video feed and let he or she switch between it, their iPhone camera, and even a GoPro. Users will also be able to narrate from a bird’s eye view during the live stream, and doodle on the video too if desired. There will also be a new dedicated topic section entitled “GoPros and Drones”, where users will be able to find broadcasts created with both these devices.

This second update is certainly exciting and unique, with Periscope tapping into its position as being first and foremost a mobile app, and there easily compatible with other mobile devices. We can see this attraction helping to retain and grow user numbers, despite Facebook’s own plans. And for Facebook, with so many users already viewing NewsFeed daily, we can’t see Live’s popularity waning any time soon.

Do you use live streaming apps to broadcast your own videos, or are you a fan of watching others? And do you think Periscope might decrease in popularity now Facebook Live is growing? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.