An exploding watermelon is the biggest thing to ever happen on Facebook Live
A watermelon and several hundred rubber bands just helped prove why Facebook is betting so heavily on live video.
More than 800,00 people tuned in to a Facebook Live Friday to watch as two BuzzFeed staffers attempted to explode a watermelon with rubber bands.
You May Also Like
The broadcast, which lasted just over 45 minutes, went viral across Facebook and Twitter as suspense grew.
By the time the watermelon finally did explode -- more than 40 minutes into the broadcast -- more than 800,000 Facebook users had tuned in. The video had more than 3.2 million views at the time of this writing. To put that in perspective, that is significantly more viewers than were turned into all of cable news in the United States.
The video's popularity highlights why Facebook is so invested in its fledgling live video product. Though slow to gain traction initially -- after being introduced last year -- the company has been ramping up its investment in the platform in recent weeks.
Facebook first tweaked its News Feed algorithim to make live video appear higher up and unveiled a suite of new features earlier this week. The social network is also paying celebrities and publishers (including BuzzFeed) to use Live to help boost its numbers.
Perhaps today Facebook Live found its Oreo moment.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Topics Facebook
Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.
