The war rages on; Meta is still looking to compete with TikTok on the short-form video front. It’s been making Reels more of a priority, and this new change is evidence of that. According to Engadget, Facebook brought a revamped Video tab to the app that basically makes it resemble Instagram.
Before the whole TikTok tiff, Facebook focused on longer-form videos from its creators. Then, enter ByteDance’s video-sharing platform. It swooped in and poached users from Instagram (owned by Facebook owner Meta) and led to a significant drop in ad revenue. Since then, Mark Zuckerberg has been looking for ways to make Instagram the one-stop shop for short videos.
This is a tough job because it’s not only going against TikTok, but it’s also fighting YouTube Shorts and Snapchat’s Spotlight.
Facebook brought a new Video tab
Facebook revamped its hub for videos. It officially retired its Facebook Watch tab after about six years of service. When you access the tab, you’ll find a line of different buttons on the top to curate the videos on your screen. There’s one for live videos, Reels, Music videos, and creators you follow. When you open the tab, you’ll automatically be in the For You section.
In the ‘For You’ section, you’ll navigate a feed of videos that the algorithm thinks you like. This will be based on your Facebook activity. While there’s a Reels section, you’ll still see Reels mixed into your ‘For You’ feed. That should come as no surprise, however. You’ll still be able to interact with these videos just like other Facebook posts. You can “Like”, comment, react, and share them.
There’s also a search button on the top right of the screen. With it, you’re able to search for keywords and hashtags. When you summon the search bar, you’ll see recommended hashtags that you can discover as well.
This is a good addition for people who want a better video-watching experience while using Facebook.
2023-07-18 15:10:07