Short-Form Video a Top Priority at Facebook, Says Zuckerberg

According to Facebook, its users have watched an average of more than one billion videos per day on the social network since June, with more than 65 percent of video views occurring on mobile devices. Facebook is planning new YouTube-like features that should appeal to content producers. Starting this week, users will be able to see the number of views a video has received, which could help people discover popular new videos. Facebook is also testing the ability to display related videos once a clip has ended.

facebook59In the future, Facebook plans to allow its videos to be embedded on more third party sites.

“The moves show that Facebook (and Twitter) are trying to evolve into more robust video platforms, even as YouTube is trying to become a more social platform,” reports Variety.

Last year, Facebook introduced auto-play videos. This summer the social network upgraded video rankings in newsfeeds to improve the display of more relevant videos. It also added the option for “call-to-action” buttons that enable users to click to another website or app, for example.

Mark Zuckerberg recently noted that video is a top priority at Facebook, and one goal is to increase organic content shared by users and partners. The video-counts feature was reportedly requested by partners interested in the level of engagement and interest in their video content.

Discovery Channel and Showtime Networks are among the media outlets currently experimenting with Facebook’s video features.

“Facebook continues to be interesting for us across digital marketing in general, and we’ve specifically seen a massive increase in engagement with our sports content on Facebook,” said Brian Swarth, VP and group director digital services at Showtime.

Related Stories:
Netflix May Add Short-Form Content to Increase Mobile Usage, GigaOM, 9/5/14
Spotify Bows First Video Ads, with ‘Takeover ‘ Spots from Universal and Others, Variety, 9/8/14

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