Facebook, one of the leaders in the social media industry, has launched a new platform dedicated to sports fanatics on Wednesday evening, Jan.20. The said Facebook Sports Stadium feature aims to provide the users the feeling of watching the actual game and sharing such experience with their friends, including other users, virtually yet still in real-time. Many considered this a "bad day" for other online sports hubs, like Twitter and ESPN, which also provide similar features.
On its press release, the social media giant bragged that it has already built the world’s largest stadium with approximately 650 million sports enthusiasts and followers. “With Facebook Sports Stadium, all the content on Facebook related to the game is in one place, and it comes in real time and appears chronologically,” said the article author, Steve Kafka, who is also the product manager.
Using the platform, you can follow your favorite sports match as it happens. You can also click on the like button, share a particular play and even publish your comment or reaction on such sports or games.
Likewise, you, your circle of friends and the rest of the Facebook community can maximize the use of this feature by exchanging thoughts and experiences -- finding a venue where common interests are shared. Here, you can also get real-time scores, statistics and other information about the on-going activity.
Sports fans may then get into the Facebook Sports Stadium by searching for a particular game. Initially, the platform only covers American football games but it plans to include all other popular sports around the world like basketball and soccer.
Meanwhile, this Facebook announcement created a variety of online reactions. In an article published in Reuters, the new sports portal is said to be Facebook’s attempt to compete with Twitter. However, Flickr did not take this move seriously and believed that the feature may not acquire users. “"The challenge for Facebook is there are already a lot of communities (like Facebook Sports Stadium). This is not quite a unique offering," Flickr said.
