Big Changes at Facebook

Posted January 23, 2018

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Facebook, without a doubt the most powerful social network online, with more than 2 billion users, is making a shift toward video. A big shift. 

Having come under fire recently for its failure to administer the vast amounts of material that are uploaded to it every day, Facebook has announced that they will dial back traditional journalism in its daily newsfeed to its users, and rather focus on material that ‘sparks conversation,’ with a particular emphasis on video.

As it turns out, video, and in the case of Facebook, original and particularly live stream video, generates the most feedback, conversations and interaction. Video content is “among the most shared and commented-upon content on the web,” said Ben Winkler, the chief investment officer of the agency OMD, who expects videos will now be given priority over text posts on Facebook.

It was not so long ago that Mark Zuckerberg predicted that in five years, Facebook would be 100% video. You should take him at his word. “Facebook has been studying TV for a few years now, and they see there is a certain equation to the size and success of TV,” said Mr. Winkler.

This is particularly good news for those of us in the video production business. Facebook is a virtually limitless platform for video, and as the demand for video content goes up, so do the opportunities for creating it. Of particular interest to Facebook are live videos. Toward that end. We are going to do a ‘live’ seminar on how to do ‘live streaming’ on our TheVJ Facebook page on Wednesday, January 24th at 1PM EST. Be sure to ‘tune in’, (if that is not an anachronistic term) on, where else, Facebook. (How appropriate).