Promote live streaming business Facebook spends $2.2 million to encourage Internet celebrities to create live streaming content

In order to develop the Facebook Live Live broadcast business, the Social networks company began paying to invite Internet celebrities to use the feature, promising to pay US$2.2 million to Internet celebrities within a few months to encourage them to create videos and live content.

In order to develop the Facebook Live Live broadcast business, the Social networks company began paying to invite Internet celebrities to use the feature, promising to pay US$2.2 million to Internet celebrities within a few months to encourage them to create videos and live content.

Jon PualPiques became an Internet celebrity by posting a six-second obscene video on Vine, but he also used Facebook to broadcast behind-the-scenes footage of "Playboy" in January.

He has a lot of motivation to do so, because before the end of September, Facebook will pay him up to $119,000 as long as he uses the Facebook Live streaming service no less than five times a month.

Piquis, 30, lives in Los Angeles and, according to documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal, was one of more than 20 Internet celebrities paid by Facebook to invite him to use the company's live streaming service.

The Wall Street Journal also reported last month that Facebook agreed to pay more than $50 million to 140 media outlets, celebrities and others to create Facebook Live videos, including Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown ANtonio Brown, Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps and "Star Trek" star Goerge Takei were paid $244,000,$224,000 and $114,000 respectively. But a large portion of that money is paid to companies such as BuzzFeed and The New York Times.

However, about 15% of this list are Internet celebrities on YouTube, Twitter's Vine video sharing platform, post-burn photo-sharing service and Facebook's photo site Instagram. Of the $50 million budget, Facebook has promised to pay about $2.2 million over a few months to online video producers, whose live broadcasts range from Dubai's "dance fountains" to dances in southern France.

Justin Osofsky, Facebook's vice president of global operations and media partnerships, said the deal was not to gain popularity among Vine and YouTube, but to encourage them to try Facebook Live.

Facebook Live was launched earlier this year, and the company has not yet found a direct way to generate revenue for the service.

Among these Internet celebrities, the highest-paid is Ray William Johnson, who became famous with the YouTube video series "Equals Three Show" that provided humorous reviews of various videos that went viral online. According to documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal, Johnson will receive $224,000 over five and a half months. But Johnson did not comment.

These Internet celebrities usually have fewer fans than BuzzFeed, but their fans are younger and more willing to like or share content. According to data from market analysis firm Captiv8, advertisers have noticed the influence of Internet celebrities, paying as much as US$150,000 for a single promotion on Instagram. As the parent company of Instagram, Facebook does not take a cut from it.

Facebook is not the first technology company to spend money on content to promote new products. In early 2011, YouTube paid more than $100 million to media companies, Hollywood production companies and online video producers to attract them to create channels on the site. YouTube no longer pays content creators directly, but can pay them for advertising.

Content creators say they value Facebook's 1.65 billion users. In April this year, 807,000 people simultaneously watched two Buzzfeed employees put rubber bands on watermelons until the watermelons burst.

Facebook's move into live video comes at a time when the popularity of some Internet celebrities on Vine is declining. A Twitter spokesperson said developing better creative tools is the company's top priority, and they hope to help Vine video producers generate revenue.

Video producers say Facebook Live often receives less views than other videos on Facebook, but thanks to its real-time interactive features, it attracts more comments.

Elise Strachan, host of the YouTube cooking channel "My Cupcake Addiction", said that a Facebook video may attract 1 million views and about 900 to 1000 comments; a Live Live video may only have 100,000 views but have as many as 3000 comments.

According to documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal, Strachan could get up to $196,000 from Facebook for producing Live videos. She declined to comment.

Piquis began publishing videos on Vine in 2013, and many of his content has attracted millions of views. Friends encouraged Piquís to try Facebook 10 months ago because the Social networks value video content.

In April, Facebook executives contacted him about the Live partnership because he is now popular. Today, he has more than 7.5 million fans, much higher than the 1.5 million a year ago.

During these meetings, Facebook executives made it clear to Piquis that live video is a major priority for the company. "Mark Zuckerberg told them to drop everything and focus on developing the Live business. I can now see fan comments directly on the screen." Piquis said in an interview.

Now, his agent wants him to live on Facebook regularly. "I don't have to face 50 people nervously, but I can do live broadcasts at home to people who already like me." Piquis said. (Shu Yu)

Editor: vian