NEW DELHI: Athletes, musicians, politicians and other influencers who use Facebook Mentions to share and connect with their fans, can now go Live.

At a time when more than 900 million people are connected to public figures on Facebook, the company launched - Live, a new way for public figures to share live video from Mentions with their fans on Facebook.

With Live, public figures can take fans behind the scenes, host a Q&A, share announcements, and more — all in real time. 

Public figures can use Live to grow and engage their fan base. Live is a new way for you to connect authentically with fans in a moment. When one starts a Live video, it will appear in News Feed for the fans to comment, like and share with their friends. People who have recently interacted with posts will also receive a notification when a broadcast starts.

Live can also help interact directly with fans and other public figures in real time, according to Facebook product manager Vadim Lavrusik. During a broadcast, the number of viewers and a real time stream of comments from people tuning in will appear and one can respond to comments live during the broadcast, or choose to hide comments.

A video can be kept by Live for fans to view later. After a broadcast has ended, the video will be published on the Page of the performer so that fans who missed it can watch at a later time, and remove it at any time. 

Some live broadcasts that are lined up by public figures in the near future are Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Serena Williams, Luke Bryan, Ricardo Kaká, Ashley Tisdale, Lester Holt, Martha Stewart, Michael Bublé and more.