Facebook is planning to roll out a new feature called Super to let people pay celebrities or content creators for the chance to interact with them on a live broadcast, Bloomberg reported, similar to the app Cameo.
The Cameo app reflects the attitude during the pandemic in which public figures look to connect with fans in digital manners while many places and events remain shut down or restricted, letting people pay celebrities to send personalized messages. Cameo was valued at $300 million in mid-2019, Bloomberg reported, citing Axios.
Facebook's Super, according to an unnamed source quoted by Bloomberg, will allow creators, entrepreneurs and entertainers to host live events where viewers can tip them to appear in the video and ask questions or take a selfie. The app will also allow creators to sell merchandise and other products on the stream.
Facebook, which is the world's biggest social media company, has faced antitrust concerns in recent years over its big-name acquisitions of popular apps like Instagram and WhatsApp. From now on, Bloomberg reported, new apps or services might need to be built in-house, as was seen this week with Facebook's debut of Collab, a service like TikTok's Duets.
Super is being developed in Facebook's New Product Experimentation (NPE), an internal group working on standalone apps and other products which has released 10 apps in the last year, although none have become a breakout hit yet, according to Bloomberg.
The pandemic has shown a new side to some celebrities who began to make broadcasts without their usual flawless makeup and appearances as they worked or interacted with fans from their homes, PYMNTS reported. That included, in the early days of the pandemic, never-before-seen gray hairs on people like Kevin Hart and newscasts featuring small children or pets wandering through the frames.
Influencer Katie Sands had a positive outlook on how the blogosphere would evolve as celebrities and consumers all looked for ways to stay connected in the digital world.
