To try to give itself a little facelift, Facebook will soon adopt a new video format similar to that of TikTok. All videos will now be vertical and full screen. Get ready to scroll!
For a while now, Meta’s social networks, Instagram and Facebook, have been eyeing their competitor TikTok, which is enjoying huge success with more than 1.5 billion users worldwide. To do this, it transformed all the platforms’ videos into Reels – short, impactful videos -, introduced musical carousels on the photography platform, and even added a “Video” tab to Facebook. The latter has been losing momentum for some time and tends to become increasingly older, with young people preferring its Chinese competitor. Also, Meta is trying to give it a little facelift by reworking the video format, as it announced in a blog post. There’s a sense of déjà vu, right?
Facebook videos like TikTok: an omnipresent vertical format
All videos will now display in vertical mode and full screen by default, whether they are Reels or longer formats. As on TikTok, we can scroll the screen to move on – or rather consume – to the next content, according to the recommendations of the recommendation algorithm. The title of the video, its description, the name of the videographer, the music used and the location will be displayed at the bottom left of the screen, while the likes, comments, sharing and sending to Messenger will be located on the right side.
There are still some differences compared to the interface of the Chinese social network. Indeed, as for publications, the “Like” button will allow you to react in different ways, with emojis in the shape of a heart, support or the famous blue thumb. Furthermore, we can return the videos in landscape format for those which are compatible using the “Full screen” button. We will also find the pause, rewind and fast forward functions.
“While Facebook continues to be the home for all types of videos, we will be showing even more Reels to meet the growing demand for this format”, writes Meta. That is clear ! This new player will first roll out to iOS and Android devices in the United States and Canada, before expanding globally in the coming months.