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Welcome to the community hub built on top of the Live.ly Wikipedia article. Here, you can discuss, collect, and organize anything related to Live.ly. The purpose of the hub is to connect people, foster deeper knowledge, and help improve the root Wikipedia article.
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Live.ly
Live.ly
Original author(s)
Developer(s)
    • Musical.ly Inc. (2016–2017)
    • ByteDance (2017–2018)
    • TikTok (2018–present)
Initial releaseiOS
July 24, 2016
Android
September 12, 2016
Final release
August 2, 2018; 7 years ago (2018-08-02)
Preview release
May 2016; 9 years ago (2016-05)
Operating system
SuccessorTikTok
TypeLive streaming
LicenseProprietary software with terms of use

Live.ly (pronounced "Lively", stylized as live.ly) was a live-streaming service created by Musical.ly in 2016, headquartered in Shanghai with an American office in San Francisco. It allowed users to stream live videos, interact through chat, and send virtual gifts, which streamers could monetize.[1] Following its launch, the app amassed over 40 million active users by late 2016.[2][3] In 2018, after ByteDance acquired Musical.ly, Live.ly was merged with TikTok, resulting in its shutdown.[4][5][6]

History

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In August 2014, Musical.ly was launched by Musical.ly Inc.[7] The app quickly gained popularity, particularly among teenagers, and by June 2016, it had amassed an active user base of approximately 90 million.[8]

In May 2016, Musical.ly announced the launch of Live.ly as a competitor to other social media platforms releasing live streaming services. Musical.ly initiated beta testing of the platform in the same month. Live.ly was published on the iTunes Store in late June 2016 and gained a significant user base shortly after its release.[2]

On July 24, 2016, Musical.ly officially released Live.ly globally at VidCon.[2]

By October 2016, Live.ly had surpassed Twitter's Periscope iOS app,[9] amassing approximately 40 million active users. In a two-week period, the top 10 accounts collectively earned US$46,000 from virtual gifts sent by users. [10]

In June 2018, Live.ly was removed from app stores in preparation for its merger with TikTok.[5] ByteDance, the company that acquired Musical.ly and Live.ly, announced plans to merge the two into a single app, enabling users to seamlessly watch videos and view live streams.[11]

On August 2, 2018, Live.ly was merged into TikTok[12] alongside Musical.ly following ByteDance's reported US$1 billion acquisition.[11] After its shutdown, users were redirected to the live-streaming platform LiveMe.[13]

Criticism and controversies

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Paul Zimmer accusations

[edit]

In April 2017, Internet personality Paul Zimmer was accused of financially exploiting his young fans by failing to deliver on promised shout-outs and personal messages. Zimmer frequently neglected to fulfill these promises, often ignoring or declining requests. The hashtag #BanPaulZimmer quickly gained traction on Musical.ly and Live.ly in response to Zimmer's behavior. Consequently, Zimmer deleted all videos where he made such promises and took an 18-month hiatus from social media.[14]

See also

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References

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