Less Than 2 Years Since It Debuted The Feature, Facebook Is Now No. 1 In Live Streaming

Twitter Inc TWTR had a path to become the internet's leading provider of live video — only to see Facebook Inc FB reign supreme.

According to Statista, Twitter's May 2015 acquisition of Periscope gave the social media platform the ability to stream live video. At that time the concept was new and innovative and attracted early adopters and the broader tech community.

It seemed like a smart move to gain an advantage in the very competitive social media market, especially given the reported price tag on the deal of slightly less than $100 million.

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Good Idea Gone Sour?

However, two years and nearly $100 million later, Twitter's biggest foes are leading the way.

Statista cited data from UBS Evidence Lab, which showed that 17 percent of users who stream live video do so via Facebook Live.

Facebook launched its "Live" streaming video feature in August of 2015, which was reserved for celebrities. In April, 2016 Facebook launched its Live feature for all users.

Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL's YouTube platform ranked a close second at 16 percent, following by Snap's Live Stories and then Periscope at just 9 percent.

Statista's data is based on a survey of U.S. internet users aged 13 and over. The survey did occur in November 2016 so it is possible that the data has changed over the brief few months — as is typically the case in the technology and social media sector.

Image Credit: By Yatko [CC BY-SA 4.0 CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons