Recognizing the power of videos to help people connect with others, Facebook has just announced a new video platform called Watch. Set to be available in mobile, desktop, laptop and its TV apps, it offers a convenient place for you to watch shows centered on your friends and communities that you’re involved in.
https://www.facebook.com/facebook/videos/10156285678786729/
Shows are a new type of video on Facebook, and are made up of episodes that follow a certain theme or storyline, whether it be live or recorded. It’s a good format for certain types of content such a cooking show, or perhaps a daily vlog. There’s also a feature called Watchlist, which lets you stay up to date with the shows you’re following.
Shows are organized into sections such as “Most Talked About,” “What’s Making People Laugh,” which are shows which have received a lot of “Haha” reactions, and “What Friends Are Watching,” which gives you an idea of what shows they are following.
When watching a show, you can also see comments, connect with other viewers, and even take part in Facebook group(s) dedicated for the show.
Show Pages
Photo: Facebook Media
Show pages allows for seamless creation and publishing of a Facebook Show. Just like your personal profile, Show Pages are organized in a way that makes it easier for people to understand what a show is all about, watch episodes and other related videos, and even connect to relevant groups.
Over time, creators will be able to monetize their shows with Ad Breaks, which have been tested over the past few months. As an added benefit, creators can also create sponsored shows using the branded content tag.
A Platform to Connect
Publishers and Creators can use Watch to find their respective audiences, create and build on a community of fans, while at the same time, earning money from their work. A variety of shows can be successful including those that engage fans and the community, those that interact and connect directly with fans, those that follow a narrative arc or a consistent theme, or live events that bring not only a few people but entire communities together.
Watch will be made available to a limited group of users in the US with plans of rolling it out to more people after a certain period of time. Shows will also be made available to a limited number of creators and then for everyone soon.
Sources: Facebook Newsroom, Facebook Media
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
