In an attempt to give itself some facelift, Facebook will soon adopt a new video format similar to TikTok. All videos will now be vertical and full screen. Get ready to scroll!
For some time now, Meta's social networks, Instagram and Facebook, have been eyeing rival TikTok, which has enjoyed huge success with more than 1.5 billion users worldwide. To do this, it converted all of the platforms' videos into Reels — short, impactful videos — introduced music carousels on the photography platform, and added a “Video” tab to Facebook. The latter has been losing momentum for some time and is increasingly aging, with younger people favoring its Chinese rival. Also, Meta is trying to give it some facelift by reworking the video format, as it announced in 2018 Blog post. There's a sense of déjà vu, isn't there?
Facebook videos are like TikTok: a ubiquitous vertical format
All videos will now display in portrait mode and full screen by default, whether they are reels or longer formats. As in TikTok, we can swipe the screen to navigate – or rather consume – to the next content, according to the recommendations of the recommendation algorithm. The video title, description, videographer's name, music used, and location will be displayed at the bottom left of the screen, while Likes, Comments, Sharing, and Send to Messenger will be on the right side.
There are still some differences compared to the Chinese social network interface. In fact, for posts, the “Like” button will allow you to react in different ways, using heart or support emojis or the famous blue thumbs up. Moreover, we can return videos in landscape format to compatible ones using the “Full Screen” button. We will also find pause, rewind and fast forward functions.
“While Facebook remains the home for all types of video, we will be offering more Reels to meet the growing demand for this format.”“, writes Meta. It shows! This new launcher will debut on iOS and Android devices in the US and Canada, before expanding globally in the coming months.
