The Tribune

FACEBOOK is rearranging the notification panel on its mobile apps in an effort to broaden the audience creating, watching and reacting to live video on its social network.

It is part of Facebook’s effort to turn its live video feature into a marquee attraction as more people use smartphones to record and share snippets of their lives.

Initially introduced as a tool for celebrities eight months ago, Facebook’s live video option is now available in 60 countries. To help promote it, Facebook is moving the button for its Messenger service so that the new video option can be highlighted on the notification panel.

When pressed, the video button will show a directory of live streams from a user’s friends, as well as segments available to anyone on the world’s largest social network. Messenger notifications will move to the top of Facebook’s mobile apps near the search box.

The app update for Apple and Android devices will be rolled out in phases and take several weeks to complete. Facebook is also adding filters to live video and making it possible to express more emotions during a presentation by pressing on “love”, “haha”, “wow”, “sad” or “angry” emojis. Those are the same options that supplement Facebook’s “like” button for photo and text posts. During a live video, the reactions will float across the screen to provide more dynamic feedback to the video.

The update underscores Facebook’s commitment to live video as it vies against Periscope, a similar service owned by its smaller rival, Twitter. Live video also could help Facebook fend off an emerging threat from the rapidly growing message service Snapchat, which says its 100 million users watch about 8 billion video clips per day.