Live Videos. Who sees them? What use are they?

Jungle Explorer

Jungle Explorer

I Love YTtalk
So, I have done a few live videos in the past few months just to try to see what they are about. I really can't figure out their usefulness. I mean actually sees the videos when they're live? Do these live videos become part of the YT database where people can find them via search, or are they something that only subscribers to your channel can find? I have been using them to promote upcoming videos. You know, "Hey guys, I am here on location shooting a new video about this (whatever subject) and will be releasing it soon on my channel. So make sure you are subscribed so you will get notified when it comes out."

I just don't understand their purpose or how to use them and am hoping someone could give me a better grasp of what they are, how they function on YT, and what is the best way to use them?
 
Crown said:
I think it's useful if you have a big audience because I think during the live video, your viewers can theoretically interact with you in the chat, ask questions etc.
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Interact? How? I can't be shooting a video and typing a message on the same smartphone. How does that work?
 
Viewers can write comments to you in the chat, and you can answer them vocally or by typing a reply back to them. I just answered them vocally when I did it. It's fun and more interactive than a normal video! :) Lives aren't as fun to watch back, imo -- it's more fun to watch in real-time because of the interactive element.

You can add tags, a title, and a description to a live video just like your regular YouTube videos, and the lives can be saved as a video on your channel. I've also noticed that live videos tend to pop up on my homepage, even from channels that I don't watch as frequently. I think it could be another way to gain momentum.
 
Thanks Katy. That helps me understand a little better. I guess it is meant for people that live stream for extended periods of time. I don't have the ability to do that due to bandwidth limitations. I live in a rural area and my ISP max is 3 Mbps down and 0.5 Mbps up, which actually the best available for my area and a stretch at this. This is very slow, but has been way worse during the lockdown, especially upload speed. I stared a 1.3 GB video upload to YT last night at midnight and it is at 35% now.

My smartphone data plan is 5 GB a month, so I can't do long live streams over that either. My live streams have been around a minute long, so there really is no time for interaction with viewers. Guess, I will have to wait until I move to where I can get better internet before I focus on live streams.
 
Live streams are useful when it's a time sensitive thing and a live performance and interaction is important. A lot of teachers and fitness instructors started doing daily live videos during lockdown for example and built up big followings. It's also useful for things like concerts.
 
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