How do you live stream?

Published on: 9 April 2020

Live video is being watched more than ever before.

At the time of going to print, national guidance encourages us to stay in our homes, and so live streaming from our homes is becoming more common place – but how do you do a live stream? What platform is best for what you want it to do?

One of the most popular methods of live streaming is using Facebook Live: it’s user-friendly and the video is saved after you’re done so it can be re-watched by visitors at a later date.

To get started, you click the “Live” button next to “Create” at the top of your Facebook news feed. If you are doing this from a mobile device, then you can tap “Start Live Video” and the live stream will begin; if you are doing it from a laptop then you will see a Facebook Live set-up page where you will need to select “Camera” as the method by which you want to stream your video, then click the “Go Live” button in the bottom left.

YouTube is very similar to Facebook: you can save your video after the live stream and it can be watched again later. Unlike Facebook, on YouTube you must enable live streaming before you can use it: go into the YouTube Studio on your account and verify it through your Channel Settings under Feature Eligibility. Once you have verified your account, you can click the live stream button in the top right of the YouTube Studio. (Note: Enabling a live stream for the first time may take up to 24 hours. Once enabled, your stream can go live instantly.)

A third method is Instagram Live. Much like the other two options, Instagram Live is easy to set up and easy to use: open the app on your phone, tap the camera icon and scroll through the options at the bottom to “Live”.

“ I’ve now set up live streaming from the Rectory, and was surprised how easy it is to do… once the curate explained it!” – Anonymous vicar

For more guidance on live streaming, visit the Church of England’s Digital Learning Labs at www.DofN.org/livestreaming


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