Now you can broadcast live to Facebook from your desktop or your favorite games

Facebook Live has been with us for a little while now, but it has been limited by the fact that it has only been possible to broadcast from mobile devices. Today this changes as Facebook opens up broadcasting to desktop and laptop users too.

On top of this, Facebook is adding the ability to stream from other software or external hardware. This has many uses, but the social network suggests that gamers might like to use it to broadcast their gaming sessions live online.

Using Facebook Live on the desktop is not really any different to using it on a mobile -- just hit the Live Video link on the your timeline and you're ready to start broadcasting. With many monitors and laptops featuring high-quality cameras as standard, this will offer an alternative to YouTube for would-be vloggers.

While the ability to broadcast to Facebook Live from the desktop is interesting, it's the second new feature that is likely to cause rather more excitement. The option to use external hardware or streaming software has been available to Pages for a while, but now it is spreading to individual profiles too.

With this update, people can seamlessly share their screens, insert graphics, switch cameras, or use professional equipment in Facebook Live videos. They also have the option to broadcast to Facebook Groups they belong to, Facebook Events they’re part of, or Facebook Pages they manage.

If you’re a gamer, this new feature makes it easier than ever to stream your PC gameplay to friends and followers and engage with them while you play. If you’re giving your friends or followers a tutorial or how-to guide, you can incorporate on-screen graphics, titles, and overlays. Or if you’re an artist, you can go live and switch seamlessly between cameras as you narrate the process.

To get started with streaming, head over to the starting page and follow Facebook's step-by-step guide.