NEW DELHI: Athletes, musicians, politicians and other influencers who use Facebook Mentions to share and connect with their fans and more than 900 million people, are connected to public figures on Facebook, can now go Live.

The social network has announced Live, a new way for public figures to share live videos 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 direct interaction 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.

Starting a live broadcast from Facebook Mentions is easy: Tap on Post and then tap on the Live Video button; add a description for the broadcast and tap the Go Live button when ready; and during a broadcast one can see how many viewers one has and can respond to comments live or hide the comments. The broadcast ends by tapping on the Stop button. The video is automatically saved to a Facebook Page for fans to view later. However, one can remove it at any time, just like any other post.

Keep an eye out for live broadcasts from Michael Bublé, Luke Bryan, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Serena Williams, Ricardo Kaká, Ashley Tisdale, Lester Holt, Martha Stewart, and more.