Facebook has announced a significant change to its live video storage policy, stating that live videos will now only be stored on the platform for 30 days, after which they will be deleted. This change, which goes into effect on Wednesday, marks a shift from the previous indefinite storage policy.

The social network has justified this move by stating that it will "align our storage policies with industry standards and help ensure we are providing the most up-to-date live video experiences for everyone on Facebook." However, no further explanation was provided, leaving some users wondering about the motivations behind this change.

In light of this change, Facebook will remove all live videos currently older than 30 days from the platform. To give users a chance to preserve their content, the platform will send notifications to users, providing them with 90 days to decide what to do with their old live videos. Users can choose to download the videos to their device, transfer them to their cloud storage, or convert the content into a new reel.

It's worth noting that Facebook's competitors, such as Twitch and YouTube, have different live video storage policies. Twitch stores past broadcasts for 60 days for Twitch Partners, Affiliates, and Prime streamers, and 14 days for regular streamers. YouTube, on the other hand, stores broadcasts indefinitely by converting them into regular videos, unless a user has chosen to disable archiving.

Facebook is offering users additional options to manage their live video content. If users need more time to download their old live videos, they can choose to defer deletion for six months. After that period, their old live videos will be removed, and they won't be able to access them. The social network is also launching new download tools to help users keep their old live videos, allowing them to bulk download their content or transfer it to linked cloud storage providers like Dropbox or Google Drive.

Interestingly, Facebook is using this change as an opportunity to further promote its reels feature. Users have the option to convert some of their favorite moments from their live videos into reels, allowing them to keep the content on their page. This move is likely part of Facebook's ongoing efforts to increase user engagement and drive adoption of its reels feature.

The implications of this change are significant, as it will likely impact the way users create and consume live video content on the platform. While Facebook's justification for the change cites industry standards, it remains to be seen how users will respond to this new policy. As the social network continues to evolve and adapt to changing user behaviors, it will be important to monitor how this change affects the overall user experience.