Facebook wants to allow fans to interact with celebrities
Facebook is building a new video product that will allow people to pay content creators or celebrities for the opportunity to interact with them during a live broadcast.
The tool, called Super, will allow creators, entrepreneurs or celebrities to organize live interactive video events. Viewers can tip creators by buying them digital gifts or pay to “appear” alongside a creator during the live stream to ask a question or take a selfie. Creators will also be able to sell merchandise or other products alongside the live stream.
Super is being developed within Facebook’s New Product Experimentation (NPE) team. It is an internal group that creates standalone apps and other products. Super has yet to be released, but the company is testing it internally, a Facebook spokeswoman confirmed.
The concept behind Super could rise to prominence as more public figures seek to connect digitally with fans during the pandemic. According to Axios, cameo, an app that allows people to pay celebrities to send a personalized video message to a friend or family member, was valued at $300 million as of mid-2019. On Monday, Facebook released an update to Collab, an app launched in May for musicians to collaborate with fans on their music.
Facebook has pushed more aggressively for live video features this year
Facebook has become the world’s dominant social media company. It has made successful and strategic acquisitions, such as Instagram and WhatsApp. But buying new companies may be more difficult for Facebook. The company was sued by the US Federal Trade Commission and a group of attorneys general last week for alleged anti-competitive practices, casting doubt on the possibility of future acquisitions. The NPE team was introduced in July 2019. Facebook describes the group as an internal community of entrepreneurs trying new independent experiences. NPE released about ten products last year, including a meme app called Whale, a live events app called Venue, and a couples app called Tuned. None of them has become a well-known, independent product.
Facebook has pushed more aggressively for live video features this year, as the Covid-19 outbreak prevents people from meeting in person. The company launched a group chat feature called Rooms in April to compete with Zoom Video Communications. It has also held a public display of building products for creators.
It’s unclear whether Super will be released as a standalone app or incorporated into an existing Facebook product.
