Facebook deletes old livestream videos: Online business people regret it

According to the newly announced Meta policy, all livestream videos on platforms like Facebook and Instagram will be deleted after 30 days from the time of posting.

According to experts, deleting livestream videos could cause Facebook to lose its competitive advantage - Photo: QUANG DINH

This regulation is making many users, especially online businesses in Vietnam, worried because they are losing an important content storage channel.

However, users can still share, download, or transfer the video to another platform before the content disappears completely from Meta's servers.

When "assets" are deleted

Operating an eyebrow tattoo salon in Ho Chi Minh City, Ms. Bich Thao said that in recent years, the salon has regularly livestreamed scenes of customers coming in for services, difficult eyebrow shaping cases, especially when customers express their true feelings after the beauty treatment.

"It is the live streaming videos about customers' real experiences that have helped my shop gain more attention and trust. They are truly assets, the shop's bread and butter. If they were deleted, it would be really sad and regrettable," said Ms. Thao.

Specializing in renting wedding dresses and taking photos, and teaching personal makeup courses, Ms. Quynh Van ( Gia Lai ) said she also uses livestreams to promote the shop's activities. For example, when taking photos of the bride and groom in a beautiful location, many customers come to the shop to choose wedding dresses, suits, deposit money and sign contracts...

"Whenever it's convenient, I often livestream from start to finish the bridal makeup scene or the makeup scene for customers at the salon so that many other people find it interesting and trust me. Some people come to use my services through livestream, others come to ask to be my students," Quynh Van shared.

Many videos have been livestreamed and have been around for years, so she has not deleted them. Therefore, with the new regulation that Facebook will automatically delete content after 30 days, Ms. Quynh Van believes that the information on the shop's page will be poorer, affecting customers' choices.

Besides convenience, streaming videos are popular because the content is presented seamlessly in a timeline, cannot be cut or edited, so it is highly trustworthy.

For many older people, closing deals through Facebook livestreams is more convenient and easier than buying through e-commerce platforms. Therefore, for many business people, in addition to views, these videos also have long-term commemorative and commercial value in terms of content.

Especially in the case of online livestreaming about store opening events, product launches, seminars providing knowledge and information about services, speeches by business leaders, customer sharing...

Delete livestream video after 30 days

Facebook sent a notice of the new policy change to users who have livestreamed on the social network. Each person will receive a different policy implementation timeline, some starting as early as late February 2025.

Specifically, Facebook's new policy will default to keeping videos posted to Facebook Live (live streaming) for 30 days on the page or personal page.

Facebook will automatically delete livestream videos after 30 days of being broadcast. This regulation is making many users, especially online businesses in Vietnam, worried - Photo: BE HIEU

During that time, users can replay, delete, or download the video. After 30 days, users will no longer be able to access their live broadcasts, and the content will be automatically removed from the user's page or profile, as well as deleted from Facebook's servers.

As part of the transition to the new policy, Facebook also said it will delete all Facebook Live videos that have been posted for more than 30 days.

However, this platform still allows users to download these videos for a certain period of time, which can be up to nearly 100 days.

How to harmonize the interests of both sides?

Speaking with Tuoi Tre , Mr. Doan Trong Khoi - General Director of Vimarket Vietnam Joint Stock Company, the owner and operator of the MasOffer affiliate marketing network - said that the new policy will certainly help reduce storage costs for the platform, of course also including balancing user needs and increasing privacy protection.

"It's also possible that Meta is directing users to other types of video content like Reels, regular videos," Mr. Khoi added.

According to this expert, Facebook's new policy is less competitive than Twitch's hosting service (14-day storage for regular accounts, 60 days for Twitch Partner accounts), TikTok (90-day storage for regular accounts and longer for paid accounts) and YouTube (permanent).

Ms. Mai Thi Thanh Oanh, Deputy General Director of Coc Coc Company Limited (owner of Coc Coc browser), commented: "This policy can bring certain benefits to the platform, such as reducing pressure on storage costs, optimizing system resources and can be a stepping stone to open up opportunities to increase revenue from storage services in the future.

However, it poses a big challenge for a segment of users - especially individuals or online businesses that depend on livestreaming to reach customers."

According to Ms. Oanh, from the perspective of benefit sharing, there needs to be a reasonable balance, ensuring harmony between platform benefits and the value contributed by the community. Online sellers not only use Facebook as a marketing tool but also create content that attracts viewers, thereby helping the platform maintain its appeal and expand the ecosystem.

Limiting video storage time can make it difficult for them to manage content, reach customers, and maintain business efficiency while there is still no optimal alternative.

According to experts, technology platforms have the right to adjust policies to optimize operations, but how can they avoid negatively affecting users - those who directly create value for the ecosystem?

Many also believe that in the context of technology platforms increasingly dominating the way content is distributed and stored, the issue of transparency, fairness and ensuring benefits for all parties needs to be put first.

The interests of users - who have contributed to building value for the platform - should not be overlooked in the business optimization process of any technology company.

Instead of just setting a time limit and letting users find their own solution, developers can provide more convenient storage support tools on the native platform or partner with storage service providers to build and offer service options according to actual needs at a reasonable cost, helping users easily backup and continue to exploit their content.

Ms. MAI THI THANH OANH

(Deputy General Director of Coc Coc Company Limited - owner of Coc Coc browser)

There are still people who are not affected too much.

While Meta’s new policy of deleting livestream videos after 30 days has worried many users, not everyone will be severely affected. The policy does not apply to memorialized accounts—accounts of deceased people that preserve content they’ve shared on Facebook.

In addition, some online businesses are not too concerned about this change. Ms. Nguyen Thuy Trang (HCMC), who often livestreams to sell women's clothing on her personal Facebook, said the new regulation does not affect her work much.

"Clothing models change constantly, goods arrive in packages, not to mention the livestream prices are also flexible, some days the price is kept, some days it is deeply discounted. Therefore, I usually only keep the video for a short time and then delete it myself to avoid diluting the information," Ms. Trang shared.

For those with similar business models, the fact that livestream videos are automatically deleted after 30 days may not be too big of an obstacle.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/facebook-xoa-video-livestream-cu-nguoi-kinh-doanh-online-tiec-hui-hui-20250314230352801.htm