Facebook Is Testing New Video Features

Facebook is testing new video features, according to new coming from the social media giant itself. Many say this is an attempt from the company to compete against rival Alphabet and its YouTube video-sharing options.

According to new research conducted by the company itself, Facebook users are watching 3 billion videos daily. With the new promised features, Facebook hopes to increase those numbers and encourage users not to seek video-streaming services from competitors.

The social media company’s Vice President of product management Will Cathcart has said that the new upgrades will offer users more flexibility in watching videos on the website itself. The company is currently in the early stages of testing the dedicated Video Feed, as well as a picture-in-picture video player.

The Video Feed the company is currently working on will ideally assist users in discovering, watching and sharing videos that they enjoy, find interesting or were recommended to them. The new Video Feed will be available most prominently within the Facebook app, but will also be accessible through the website on the Favorites section.

Right now, the new Video Feed is limited to a select number of users, but as testing will expand, it is expected that Facebook will increase the number of users who can see and experiment with the app. During this testing period, the Messenger button in the app will be replaced by the Videos options.

The other big feature which is being tested is the picture-in-picture video player. This is a much hyped addition to Facebook’s design, as it will allow users to continue watching videos while they scroll down through their newsfeed. Many tech analysts have welcomed the announcement as an innovative and ambitious move from Facebook.

Currently, while videos can play automatically on Facebook, they are no longer visible and will stop playing once the user scrolls down to other stories present in the newsfeed. But with the addition of the picture-in-picture video player, Facebook users will no longer have to choose between watching a video posted on a friend’s (or their own) timeline and viewing other posts, likes and comments visible in the newsfeed.

Facebook has also been testing a feature that would suggest other videos to users at the end of each video, in a manner similar to the recommendations and suggestions offered by YouTube. After further testing is done, the new features will be made available for the Facebook mobile app on Android devices, as well as the website itself.

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