Facebook Live allows users to broadcast live video to their followers on Facebook. When going live on Facebook, you have some control over who can view your live video stream.
Making Your Live Video Public
By default, Facebook Live videos are public. This means that anyone on Facebook can view your live broadcast whether they follow you or not. Public live videos may show up in the Facebook Live map, News Feed, and search results while you are streaming.
If you want the maximum audience possible, making your live video public is the way to go. With public live streams, your video can be discovered and viewed by people who don’t already follow you. This gives you a chance to reach new audiences and grow your follower base.
Limiting Your Audience to Friends
You can limit the audience for your Facebook Live video to friends only. This means that only people who are already connected to you as friends on Facebook will be able to view your live stream.
To limit your live video audience to friends:
- Go to your Facebook page and click “Live” in the left menu
- Click on the gear icon in the bottom left corner
- Under privacy, select “Friends”
Now when you start streaming, the only people who will be able to watch are your confirmed friends. Keep in mind that any of your friends will be able to see your live video, even if they haven’t interacted with your page before.
Limiting to Specific Friends
You can further customize the audience for your live video by limiting it to specific friends on Facebook.
To limit live video viewing to specific friends:
- Go through the same steps above to get to privacy settings
- Click on the drop down menu under “Friends”
- Start typing the names of friends you want to allow to view your live video
- Select each friend’s name when it appears
This will prevent all of your friends from seeing the live video – only the selected individuals will have access. You can choose as many or as few friends as you want to be in your live video audience.
Going Live in Facebook Groups
Another option for controlling your audience is to stream your Facebook Live video in a Facebook group. When you go live in a group, only members of that group will be able to view your video.
To go live in a group:
- Go to the group where you want to broadcast
- Click “Write something” at the top of the page
- Click “Live Video” on the bottom left
This will allow all members of the group to see you streaming live. People who are not members of the group will not have access. This can be a great way to engage with a specific community or share content with a targeted audience.
Using Private Live Videos
Facebook also gives you the option to broadcast live videos that are completely private. Private live videos can only be viewed by you.
To make a live video private:
- Go to your Facebook page and click “Live”
- Click the gear icon and select “Only me” under privacy
Private live videos do not show up publicly anywhere on Facebook. You can use private live videos to test settings, practice going live, or stream content you don’t necessarily want to share publicly.
Changing Privacy Settings Mid-Broadcast
You can change the privacy settings for your live video even after you have started streaming. Your viewers will be alerted that the audience is changing.
To update privacy settings during a live video:
- Tap the viewer count at the top of the stream
- Tap the gear icon
- Select a new privacy setting
The new audience restriction will take effect right away. Anyone who was viewing but gets excluded from the new setting will be removed from the live stream.
Understanding Viewer Limits
Facebook does limit the total number of live viewers you can have, regardless of your privacy settings:
| Follower Count | Maximum Viewers |
|---|---|
| 0-1000 | 50 |
| 1000-10,000 | 100 |
| 10,000-100,000 | 1000 |
| 100,000+ | Unlimited |
So if you have 500 followers, you cannot have more than 50 people watching your live video at once, even if it’s public. As your follower count grows on Facebook, the viewer limit will increase.
Using Facebook Pages for More Viewers
You can remove the viewer limit by broadcasting through a Facebook Page instead of your personal profile. Live videos on pages have no cap on the number of concurrent viewers.
To stream from a Facebook Page:
- Go to your page and click “Live” on the left
- Click “Go Live” in the top right
The stream will still adhere to any privacy settings you establish. But a public page live video can theoretically reach Facebook’s entire user base of over 2 billion people.
Who Can See Replays of Your Live Videos?
After your Facebook Live broadcast ends, a replay of the video remains available on your Facebook page. The privacy settings you chose for the initial live stream apply to the replay as well.
So if you limited your live video to friends only, the recording will also be viewable by friends only after the fact. If the video was public while live, anyone can continue to watch the replay.
You can remove the recording or change the audience at any time, even after streaming. Just go to your Facebook page, click Videos on the left side, select your live video, click the 3 dots in the top right corner, and choose Edit Privacy or Delete.
Using Facebook Live with Linked Instagram Accounts
If you have your Facebook account linked to an Instagram account, your Facebook Live videos can also be broadcast on Instagram at the same time.
However, you cannot limit the Instagram audience separately from Facebook. Any Instagram followers you have will be able to see the live video.
The only way to prevent Instagram followers from viewing your Facebook Live video is to unlink your Instagram account before broadcasting. This will make the video Facebook-exclusive.
Private Lives Aren’t Visible Anywhere
One final note – as mentioned earlier, private Facebook Live videos that are limited to “Only me” cannot be viewed by anyone else. Private live videos do not appear on your profile, page, or timeline. They are not visible to any followers or friends.
Private livestreams are a great way to test settings, practice going live, or video journal for yourself without sharing publicly on Facebook.
Conclusion
Facebook Live gives you several options for controlling who can view your live broadcasts. While public videos have the widest reach, you can limit viewing to friends only, specific individuals, group members, or just yourself. Privacy settings can be updated during a live video or changed later for the replay.
Understanding these audience options allows you to tailor your Facebook Live videos for the exact crowd you want to reach. With the ability to livestream from profiles and pages, potentially to billions of viewers, Facebook Live provides powerful tools for engaging any target audience.