Facebook's New Video Player Takes Inspiration From TikTok

Facebook is taking a page out of TikTok’s playbook. The social media giant is launching an updated video player that incorporates all video lengths and formats, including Reels, longer videos and live videos. As part of the update, horizontal videos can be opened up in full-screen mode, and a slider will appear to let you skip ahead in longer videos. Users will also get more “relevant” video recommendations on their Feed and in the Video Tab, regardless of video length. 

If this all sounds familiar, it’s because this setup closely resembles what you’ll already find on competitor TikTok. Scrolling through the app’s For You page (or “home” page), you’ll find a combination of longer and shorter videos, a slider to move forward or backward and live videos dispersed throughout. TikTok has reportedly been experimenting with videos as long as 30 minutes, potentially encroaching on YouTube’s territory. 

Facebook’s latest update is rolling out on iOS and Android in the US and Canada before eventually becoming available globally in the coming months. To pull up the player, tap on a video anywhere in Facebook’s app.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is no stranger to adopting popular features from competitors. Instagram notably mimicked Snapchat’s stories feature back in 2016 and launched Reels in 2020 in a bid to compete with short-form video giant TikTok. Now, Facebook is banking on a layout that’s worked well for TikTok, which now has over 1 billion monthly active users.

There’s a feature Facebook is adding that doesn’t exist on TikTok: the option to jump forward or backward in 10-second increments. Tapping on a video brings up controls that let you skip forward or go back with the tap of a button. A pause/play button will also appear. 

Facebook also says it’ll surface more Reels “to meet the growing demand for this format.”

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