Facebook has now introduced a Live Audio option to allow users to broadcast audio directly to the social network.
The new feature, which works like traditional radio or podcasting, comes close on the heels of Facebook’s successful rollout of the Live Video feature.
Facebook users can now reach audiences using only audio content via the Facebook Live API or by adding a still image to accompany their audio broadcast.
Listeners can discover Live Audio content on their News Feed, ask questions and leave reactions in real time during the broadcast. They can also share it with their network.
We know that sometimes publishers want to tell a story on Facebook with words and not video. Our new Live Audio option makes it easy to go live with audio only when that’s the broadcaster’s preferred formatShirley Ip, Product Specialist, and Bhavana Radhakrishnan, Software Engineer at Facebook
Android users will be able to continue listening to a Live Audio broadcast even if they leave the Facebook app or lock their phones, while iOS listeners will be able to continue listening as they browse other parts of Facebook.
We also know that publishers sometimes go live from areas that lack strong network connectivity. Though we alert the broadcaster if their signal is low, Live Audio presents another option for connecting with audiences in real time from low-connectivity areasFacebook post
Over the next few weeks, Facebook will test the Live Audio feature with several partners, including BBC World Service, LBC, Harper Collins, and authors Adam Grant and Brit Bennett.
Facebook intends to make the Live Audio format available to publishers and users early next year.
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