Facebook Is Letting Some People Livestream the News, But Probably Not You

The market for live streaming apps is moving fast. Hot on the heels of Meerkat and Twitter's Periscope app, Facebook is getting into the live streaming game by opening up its Mentions app to anyone with a verified profile—namely, journalists.

The app, which has a live streaming feature, was designed to help popular Facebook users with large numbers of followers more easily interact with their fans and host Q&As. It was previously only available to big-time celebrities.

Live reporting was widely hailed as Periscope's strongest potential use case when it launched, and its first major success was the live streaming of a Manhattan building explosion by users. Facebook appears to have latched onto this, with a live report from Ukraine serving as the press image for the Mentions rollout.

Since anyone with a verified account can use it now—not just journalists—you can also look forward to streams from mid-level stars.

Despite high-profile tech companies jumping on board, live streaming remains niche, as Wired notes. Just ask your mom what Periscope is, and see if she doesn't reference an actual submarine. Facebook's absolutely gigantic user base could be the key to making go mainstream—but only if it opens Mentions up to all accounts.

Not every journalist is verified on Facebook, for example, and as anyone who hangs out on Twitter (or Periscope for that matter) already knows, breaking news doesn't just happen around famous people.

Without citizen journalists using the app, many breaking news events may be broadcast on Periscope and not Facebook. But, on the flipside, you probably won't see people getting naked or snorting coke on Facebook, either.