Facebook is rearranging the notification panel on its mobile apps in an effort to widen the audience watching live video on its social network.
The shift announced Wednesday is part of Facebook’s effort to turn its live video feature into a marquee attraction as more people use their smartphones to record and share snippets of their lives.
Facebook is moving the button for its Messenger service so that the new video option can be highlighted on the notification panel. When pressed, the video button will show a directory of live streams from a user’s friends, as well as segments available to anyone on the world’s largest social network.
Messenger notifications will move to the top of Facebook’s mobile apps near the search box.
The app update for Apple and Android devices will be rolled out in phases and will take several weeks to complete.
Facebook is also adding filters to live video and making it possible to express more emotions during a presentation by pressing on “love,” “haha,” “wow,” “sad” or “angry” emojis. Those are the same options that supplement Facebook’s “like” button for photo and text posts.
The update underscores Facebook’s commitment to a live video option introduced last year to compete against Periscope, a similar service run by its smaller rival, Twitter.
Since its debut, Facebook’s live video has been used to provide glimpses of parties and vacations as they happen. Musicians have shown live performances on it and athletes have used it to take their fans behind the scenes before a game.
Facebook isn’t showing ads in or near live video feeds, but the Menlo Park, California, company isn’t ruling out that option to fuel its revenue growth.
