Facebook reports today that it is opening up its Mentions app for verified journalists, experts, and other “influencers” to post live news, stream behind the scene news, host Q&A along with other possibilities. The app—formerly available only to select celebrities-aims to help journalists to use Facebook as a home to distribute their news and also to use the platform for livestreaming.
Vadim Lavrusik, Facebook’s product manager for Mentions, says, “We want to make Facebook a better experience for journalists whether it’s used for news-gathering or better connecting with their readers or to drive distribution to their content,”.
Facebook launched Mentions app in 2014, but livestreaming via the app only came to life last month.