Can Facebook Live Be Broadcast Privately?

Facebook Live is a brilliant tool that allows you to stream your videos live with little effort. Everyone uses it, from individual users to pages of large corporations. People use it for fun, marketing, and raising awareness.

But can you broadcast Facebook Live privately to a limited group of people? Some events may not be for the entire Facebook community to see, but you still may want to stream them to a selected group of people.

Can You Do Facebook Live in Private?

The short answer here is yes. Not only can you choose to broadcast your live Facebook session to your Facebook friends only, but you can even exclude some of these friends from your broadcast. You can also go live on Facebook with the groups where you’re a member or admin.

So yes, broadcasting Facebook Live to a select group of people is an option, and a beneficial one, at that. Instead of posting something hobby-related to all of your friends, you can do so in a hobby group. This way, you’ll get much more traction and more engagements. If you don’t care about the numbers, you can focus on the fun aspect of this experience.

How to Do Facebook Live Privately

There are two main ways to do Facebook Live: Using your Android/iOS device or browser. The first one is much more versatile and widely used, while the second one is much more organized. Both work in a similar way. Here’s how to start your live broadcast on Facebook to a select group of people.

Make Facebook Live Session Private using Android/iOS/iPhone App

In essence, Facebook regards a Live Session as a post. So, the Live option should be under “What’s on your mind?” on the “Home” page in the Facebook app. If you can’t see it, tap “What’s on your mind?” That should show you the list of all post types you can use on Facebook. “Live video” should be one of them. All you have to do is tap it. Here’s how to set Facebook Live to private using an Android device or iPhone.

1. Open the “Facebook” app to the homepage.
   
2. Tap “What’s on your mind?”
   
3. Select “Live video.” You’re NOT recording live yet, but your phone’s front camera should turn on.
   
4. Tap the “To: Friends” section below your name at the top to change your privacy settings.
   
5. Choose “Public,” “Friends,” “Friends except,” “Specific friends,” “Only me,” or “Close friends” using the “See more” and “See all” options. You can also choose from your “Groups” list at the bottom.
   
6. Select “Go Live” when ready.
   

Browser

Broadcasting using your browser is similar. Go to your preferred browser and go to Facebook.com. Once logged in, you’ll see “What’s on your mind, [your name]?” at the top of the page.

You’ll also see several options beneath this, such as Photo/Video, Tag Friends, etc. Click the three-dots icon to the left. A list of other options should appear. To start setting up your broadcast, click Live Video. If you’re using a laptop, a screen with a camera, or a webcam, you can see yourself. Again, don’t worry; the broadcast doesn’t start until you decide to create it.

In the left part of the screen, you’ll see Share to Your Timeline and Public. Here, you’ll be able to select your broadcast privacy options.

Selecting Your Audience

Whether you’re using a mobile device/tablet or a computer, you can select your audience. However, the setup methods differ a bit in certain respects.

You can choose whether you’ll broadcast to the public, to all your friends, to some friends, or only to yourself. You can also choose to post to the groups that you’re a member or admin of or pages that you’re running.

Broadcasting to Friends

When selecting which friends can see your Facebook Live broadcast, things are pretty much the same across the board. On your phone, once you’ve tapped “To: Friends,” you are given a choice to stream to the public, your entire Friends list, all friends except the ones you select, to specific friends, or only to yourself. Select “Public” on the left of the Facebook live screen to reach this list.

Broadcasting to a Group

However, this is where things diverge a bit, depending on the platform that you’re using. If you want to stream live to a group you’re a member or an admin of on your phone, you’ll use the same “To: Friends” option mentioned above. To do this in the browser, select Share to Your Timeline and click Share in a Group. In the next screen, use the dropdown menu under Share in a Group to choose the group.

Broadcasting to Your Page

Now, when it comes to broadcasting to a page that you manage, things depend on the platform you’re using. Within a browser, select Share to a Page you Manage after clicking Share to Your Timeline. Then, choose one of the pages that you manage.

However, there is no page broadcasting option on Facebook for Mobile because you can’t manage your pages via the Facebook app. Instead, you’re going to have to use the Facebook Page app. Fortunately, the Facebook Live option on the Facebook Page works in an almost identical manner as with the regular Facebook app.

Broadcasting to a Select Group of People

Using Facebook Live is simple across the board. You might encounter minor inconveniences on your phone due to the lack of the option of broadcasting to your pages. If you’ve ever used Facebook Page or Facebook for Mobile, this shouldn’t be an issue, though. So, yes, you can broadcast Facebook Live both privately and to a select group of people.