Last year, tennis star Serena Williams posted a live video from the Miami marathon for her fans, and Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a The Rock, posted one from his workout space. This was soon after Facebook introduced a new feature called ‘Facebook Live’, which allows public figures with a verified page to reach out to their followers live, just like on television, or other live streaming platforms such as Meerkat and Periscope. The followers are notified when the celebrity goes live. They can log in, send comments and interact.
Interestingly, the same feature is now being used in a web series launched by FremantleMedia India, which has produced reality shows such as Indian Idol and India’s Got Talent . The series, titled Confessions — It’s Complicated , premiered on Facebook on April 4. The story revolves around three girls — Raka Ghosh from Kolkata, Sameera Saxena from Delhi and Nupur Murthy from Coimbatore — and how they cope in Mumbai.
According to Vidyuth Bhandary, business head of FremantleMedia India, the eight-minute episodes will be released on Facebook on Monday, Wednesday and Friday every week. This will be followed by a mini ‘Confessions’ episode on Saturdays, where the characters will talk about their experience and reflect on their lives over the last week. “While we are giving the first window to Facebook, we do not want to isolate the conventional watchers on YouTube. All the episodes will be available on YouTube, just as any other web series,” he says.
What makes the series interactive is the Live session with the audience every alternate day. “The plot is something most independent women can relate to, so we thought there will be questions for the characters. Through Facebook Live, the characters will get in touch with the audience,” he says.
According to Facebook Media blog, while streaming live, the public figures (in this case, the three characters) can see how many viewers have tuned in, and also view or hide their comments. Only those viewers who have interacted with the posts on the Facebook page of the web series will be notified when a new live session begins. After live streaming, the stream appears as just another video, which viewers can go back and watch. This is unlike the short lifespan of the videos in Periscope (24 hours) and Meerkat (soon after).
“Ours is probably the first web series in India to try this feature. Facebook India has given access to the Live feature only to a few white-listed pages. It’s new for both Facebook India and for us. We are still in the experimenting stage,” he says. “The three leading characters will continue to tell their story outside of the series, and be accessible across key social media platforms. The audience will have the opportunity to become friends with them online, and possibly even meet the characters,” he adds.
Check out the Confessions — It’s Complicated Facebook page to catch the series.
