How To Use Tumblr's New Live Video Function

Video, especially live stream, has quickly become integral to how we use and view social media. We have seen its success on platforms such as Facebook Live, Twitter’s relationship with Periscope, and now (buckle your seat belts) because this afternoon Tumblr launches live video as well.

The social networking and short-form multimedia blogging site is approaching its video feature in a unique way. A closely kept secret until today, Tumblr announced that instead of creating its own live streaming tool, it is integrating existing services such as YouNow, YouTube, Kanvas, and Upclose, to bring “the magic of your Tumblr Dashboard to life, in real time.”

Integrating these select apps, each with diverse capabilities, should promote a wide variety of live streaming content and bring together different online communities. Currently hosting approximately 300 million blogs, and boasting 550 monthly users, Tumblr is primed to become a fairly powerful player in the world of live stream. “We’re serving as a publishing and discovery platform for live video. Tumblr will be a destination to broadcast, discover, watch and share the greatest live videos across multiple platforms,” Tumblr stated in a press release. And as long as some of those videos include adorable cats, I'm happy.

The live video service is kicking off at 4 p.m. EST with an hour and a half of live entertainment and announcements broadcasted from Tumblr's NYC offices. To join the party, users will be able to post live videos on either iOS or Android (though YouTube is currently only Android ready), by logging into their preferred streaming app. Change the settings in the app to turn on the sharing option and connect to your Tumblr account, and go live. A push notification will be sent to your followers once you are streaming live and when you re-blog someone else's live video. The live video is also placed at the top of your followers' dashboards while you are recording. They will not be able to escape your stream — so that's some serious promotion!

Once the stream is completed, it will be saved to Tumblr as a normal post that can be watched again at a later time. Or who knows? Maybe the stream goes viral and all of Tumblr is obsessed with you eating a sandwich, finger painting, petting a giraffe, or whatever you choose to film. Tumblr encourages you to stream for as long as you want. So as long as you have a smart phone and working internet, you can basically blog your entire life should you so choose.

For more information, check out Tumblr's broadcast today on their new video site. Knowing Tumblr's preferred content it will probably be fairly strange and funny — which, of course, we appreciate!

Images: Tumblr