Live streaming is a social medium for steroids - sharing live video about what you do is more than just sharing carefully crafted photos and videos. That's the difference between live TV news and sitcom reruns.

If you are not immediately uncomfortable with this idea, you can use the live broadcast for any purpose. You can do your own show, share the experience with your friends when it happens, run an exercise routine for people at home, communicate with multiple colleagues at once, hold a virtual show and more.

All major social applications include live streaming capabilities, and all viewers want to be able to tune in. But before you enter, it's important to know what you can do and how many people will see it.

Here are the usual security and privacy guidelines:

Be careful when sharing sensitive information in your video (including your phone number, address, and financial information), especially if you're sending it to even more specific people.

How to stream live on Facebook

To start a live stream on Facebook, launch the mobile app and go to the composer's post on the page, profile, group, or event where you want to publish the stream. Then tap Live to go to the preview screen. Audience Selector is at the top - you can select all but one of your Facebook friends or send them to the group you're part of. Alternatively, you can post the broadcast for everyone to see, with or without a Facebook account.

At the front of the screen, you can add a description to your live broadcast, tag places like people, or add one or two source filters. When everything is set up the way you want, tap Play live video to start broadcasting.

Some options and effects, such as the on-screen drawing option, remain active during recording. You can see comments and comments from people who watched your video when it was live, give access to the feed to some friends (if it's not available to everyone), and also add your own comments. When you're done, click Finish to get the video on your generation timeline, while keeping your audience settings the same. You can also click Share and send pictures to a specific group of people. If you want the world to never see your live broadcast again, you can always press Delete.

Launch Instagram Live

In the Instagram mobile app, tap the plus icon at the top of the screen, then select Live from the context menu. At the top of the next screen you can see which of your friends are currently online - to make sure you have the audience you want - and at the bottom you can add filters. Press the shutter button to start broadcasting. Depending on the app's settings, your followers will receive a push notification letting them know you're streaming live, and online friends will see a Live with your Avatar badge at the top of their Instagram channel. At the bottom of the live stream, you'll see comment icons for your channel. You can answer audience questions, invite others to share their own videos with you, and pin a comment for people to join the stream later.

When you have had enough, tap End and then End video. You'll see a screen that tells you how many people agree, and the app will give you the option to share the broadcast as a regular Instagram story (takes up to 24 hours) or delete it completely.

In terms of privacy, this feature follows the same rules as Stories: Before you start broadcasting, you can block specific people from watching your live broadcast by clicking on the gear icon (top left) followed by Live. However, if you have a public account, anyone with an Instagram account can see your live broadcasts - as well as view your posts and stories. To prevent this, you can make your account private by going to your profile, tapping the three lines at the top right, then tapping Settings and Privacy. Finally, enable the radio button next to Private Account at the top of the page. How to stream live on Twitter

You can only stream the mobile application live on Twitter. To get started, tap the blue typing icon at the bottom right, tap the Camera icon, then tap Live. If you want, you can use the options above to add a description and location for the stream.

Click Go LIVE to start broadcasting.

When you're alive, you can use the icons below to see how many people are viewing your feed and posting news at the top of the feed. To stop the stream, click the cross icon in the upper left corner, and then click Stop Broadcasting. You'll get a chance to tweet the video again for people who can't hear it.

The Invite Friends button on the live page allows you to invite up to three other people to share their video and audio in the live stream. Viewers can request the same, which applies to the Visitors ON and Visitors OFF radio buttons (smiley icon).

Live streams work like tweets in terms of visibility - they can be seen anywhere on Twitter and can be seen by anyone, even if they don't have a Twitter account. If you use a private Twitter account (where followers must be explicitly approved), you will not be able to stream live.