Facebook Live a window into the good, bad and ugly of human experience

Thousands of people watched live asNgangatulelei HeKelesi came red-faced andscreaming into the world on Monday.

He's not a celebrity or royalty just a regular boy from California. But a few days after his father Kali Kanongata'a broadcast the birth in real time on Facebook Live, more than200,000 people havewatched the video.

Complete strangers saw mother Sarah Domegrimacingin pain, her legs spread and her knees pulled back, as she brought new life into the world.People all over the internet watched her smile as sheheld her newborn sonin her arms for the first time.

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"I'm really shocked that so many people seen the video," Dome later told CBC News."My baby's a star."

The allure of the video is clear it's original,emotional and compelling. But it left many people wondering why would someonepublicly share something so personal?

"People are obviously passionate about the birth of their child, and we share what we are passionate about, whether that's a Justin Bieber concert or becoming a parent," saidJenna Jacobson, a University of Toronto PhD candidate who studies the waydigital technologies affect society.

'It's hit a nerve'

But for some, the videocrosseda line. Many online havebemoaned what they see as a culture of oversharing, so much so thatKanongata'afollowed thevideowith apost defending it.

"It's hit a nerve, and it may be because we're in a moment of transition,"SidneyeveMatrix, who teaches digital communications atQueen's University in Kingston, Ont., said. "What are our expectations about intimacy and privacy online?"

That's something we're still trying to collectively figure out, Jacobson said,and the boundaries keep shifting.

"The etiquette with new technology is changing," she said. "Years ago it would have been considered very impolite to have your phone out on a table while you eat dinner at a restaurant. Now that is a relatively acceptable norm."

'Go-to mode of social media sharing'

But wherever you stand on the issue, you'd better get used to being invited into people's lives and living rooms.Matrix saidlive video is quickly becoming"the go-to mode of social media sharing."

About10 million people watch 350,000 hours of live video a dayon Periscope, a live streaming service on Twitter thatMatrix calls"niche."Now thatFacebook hasrolled out live video to its1.65 billion active users, she said,"this is going to bring live video sharing right into the mainstream."

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Already, people are broadcasting their pets and children, their weddings and their proms. Reporters regularly livestreamon location during breaking news.

BuzzFeedlivestreameddoctors performing cosmetic surgery.Tens of thousands of peoplewatched, in real time, ascomedian RickyGervaistook a bath.

"It's got an emotional intensity. It's an immersiveexperience;it has that authenticity," Matrix said. "It creates a virtual togetherness and that's powerful."

The dark side

But in a world where anyone can broadcast anything, the whole range of human experience is on display and it's not always pretty.

Last month, an Ohio woman was accused of livestreaming her friend's rape on Periscope. On Tuesday, a Florida man live streamed his standoff with police.

French police are investigating reports that a woman livestreamed her own suicide, and authorities in Milwaukee are investigating reports of teenagerslivestreaming their sexual encountersfor their peers.

• Live streaming app raises new questions about privacy

"With new social tools and technologies, we always need to consider ethics," Jacobson said. "Intent and consent arekey to how we use social media."

The widespread adoption of a technology once onlyavailable to a handful of professional media outletsbrings new challenges, saidAlfredHermida, ajournalism professor at the University of British Columbia who specializes in social media.

"We are all carrying a broadcast station in our pockets in the shape of our cellphones and are always online. More significantly,social media makes it easy to tap into a ready-made audience,"he said.

"This places a greater responsibility on us as the audience to be able to make the right decisions in what we choose to watch. We all have to be smart media consumers and not reward unethical behaviour with views and clicks."