Facebook users worldwide will be able to share updates and thoughts while watching free streaming video of the memorial at CNN Live, ABC, and E! Online websites.<\/p>\n
“We are preparing for numbers that easily outweigh the inauguration,” said Facebook marketing director Randi Zuckerberg.<\/p>\n
“There is just so much global reach for this star; something about him or his music has touched people around the world.”<\/p>\n
The same technology used to stream CNN coverage of Obama’s inauguration — Facebook Connect — will be put to work letting people watch the Jackson memorial in CNN Live video players.<\/p>\n
Facebook users will be able to stay linked to their social-networking profiles and friends while watching memorial video streamed at CNN Live, ABC, or E! Online, according to Zuckerberg.<\/p>\n
“Internet users across the globe can watch (the memorial) live while simultaneously updating their Facebook status and following their friends on Facebook — and other Jackson fans around the world,” Facebook said.<\/p>\n
A Michael Jackson page at Facebook has topped 6.5 million fans, unseating Obama’s “fan page” as the most popular at the California-based social networking service, according to Zuckerberg.<\/p>\n
Free virtual versions of Jackson’s famous glove are the top gifts at Facebook, with more than 800,000 having been sent to members.<\/p>\n
“This is a man who has elicited so much emotion from people during his lifetime,” Zuckerberg said of Jackson.<\/p>\n
“He continues to elicit emotion after death. He is the focus of remarks good and bad at Facebook.”<\/p>\n
Video of the Jackson memorial will also be streamed at MySpace thanks to collaboration with entertainment titan AEG.<\/p>\n
The memorial will be streamed real time, free, and people will be able to comment or link to Michael Jackson’s profile, according to MySpace.<\/p>\n
MySpace said it is showcasing the memorial because it has a global online platform and its users care about the event.<\/p>\n
MySpace Music also lets members of the News Corp-owned service listen to songs from more than 30 of Jackson’s digitised albums or view some 20 of the King of Pop’s music videos online free due to a partnership with Sony Music.<\/p>\n
Fox News video of the memorial will stream live online at Hulu, a popular video service owned by NBC Universal, News Corp. and Providence Equity Partners.<\/p>\n
Hulu is also promising on-demand access to video of the entire memorial service after the event.<\/p>\n
Singers Stevie Wonder and Mariah Carey are among a bevy of stars slated to appear at Jackson’s memorial service in Los Angeles, organisers said.<\/p>\n
Soul legend Wonder and pop diva Carey were included on a provisional list of participants at Tuesday’s ceremony, which will also include stars such as John Mayer, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson and Usher.<\/p>\n
Organisers say Tuesday’s 90-minute event will be a celebration of the life of Jackson, who died on June 25 at age 50 of an apparent cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n
In the week following Jackson’s death millions of people flocked to the official Michael Jackson channel at YouTube. The rate at which visitors followed “click-to-buy” links to purchase Jackson music at online shops leapt by a multiple of 46, according to YouTube.<\/p>\n