Facebook announced Tuesday that the live video will only be stored on social networks for 30 days and then deleted. Previously, these videos were kept indefinitely. The changes will take effect on Wednesday.
All live videos that are currently older than 30 days will be removed from the platform as part of this change. Before the video is deleted, users will receive notifications and are given 90 days to choose what to do with the old live content. Users can choose to download videos to their devices, transfer them to cloud storage, or convert content to new reels.
In a blog post, Facebook said, “These changes will help us to align our storage policy with industry standards and provide the latest live video experience for everyone on Facebook.” No further explanation was provided. (TechCrunch reached out to us for comment but was unable to respond immediately.)
One of Facebook Live’s biggest competitors, Twitch has been keeping past broadcasts for Twitch Partners, Affiliates and Prime Streamers for 60 days. For regular streamers, the platform stores past live videos for 14 days. Another popular home for live videos, YouTube broadcasts indefinitely by converting them into regular videos (unless users choose to disable archives).
Please note that Facebook can choose to postpone the deletion for six months if users need more time to download old live videos. If they do not select after that period, their old live videos will be deleted and they will not be able to access them.
Social networks are launching new download tools that help users maintain their old live videos.
Users can download large amounts of old live videos by selecting the “Download live video” option in notifications received about future deletions. Alternatively, you can click on the “Transfer Live Video” option and then select a linked cloud storage provider, such as Dropbox or Google Drive.
Facebook uses it as a way to push further changes. This is because users notice that they have the option to convert their favorite moments from live video to reels and keep them on the page.