To make users share more personal information, Facebook FB will be adding a new feature this week called Slideshow to its iOS mobile app. Slideshow has been a part of the social media service’s photo sharing Moments app.
Facebook will now automatically sync users’ photos and video and if there are more than five pictures/videos taken in the last 24 hours, it will create a slideshow for you. The preview of the slideshow will appear at the top of the news feed. Users can post, edit or delete the sideshow presentation. Users can customize the same by finding a slideshow in News Feed and clicking on the "Try It” option."
Currently, Facebook has added 10 different themes of varying styles and music like epic, playful, nostalgic, and birthday with more additions coming eventually.
Facebook also added that “slideshows use less data and load faster than the average video advert, making them ideal for users on low-bandwidth connections.”
Slideshow yet again underscores Facebook’s efforts to go “full steam ahead” with video viewing. Facebook is trying to tap the opportunity presented by ever increasing video viewing on social media platforms. As per The Wall Street Journal, Facebook recently signed nearly 140 deals with celebrities like actor Kevin Hart, Chef Gordon Ramsay and Indian American author Deepak Chopra and media houses like Buzzfeed, New York Times and CNN, worth $50 million to churn out live video content for its platform.
Online video is the most rewarding component of digital advertising. As video ads generate more revenues than its photo and text based counterparts, Facebook is trying to incorporate more and more video oriented content to bring in more ad dollars. Moreover, it is the “live” feature that is emerging as a terrific opportunity. Facebook noted that there has been a threefold jump in creation and sharing of new videos by users. Facebook also added that an initial survey found that people reacted 10 times more to a live video than regular videos. Research firm, Forrester Research projects digital ad revenues to touch $12.6 billion by 2019.
Though Facebook is trying to expand into video viewing, the arena is marked by stiff competition. Alphabet’s GOOGL YouTube is the dominant player in this field. Also, Snapchat and Twitter’s TWTR Periscope are names to reckon with in the video space.
At present, Facebook is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock worth considering is NetEase, Inc. NTES, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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