Facebook is now trying to be all the social media apps in one by releasing Facebook Reels in 150 countries today. Yes, South Africa is one of them. We know Reels from Instagram, but users all over Meta’s ecosystem are about to be introduced to it.
The company is definitely trying to get influencers and young adults back in to the Facebook game. According to The Verge, young adults feel Facebook is not the right place for rants and strong opinions. This age group cares more about their mental health and has a strong dislike of fake news. Gen Z appears to feels that the platform is for moms or something — an impression Mark Zuckerberg is anxious to change.
What is Facebook Reels about?
According to Meta’s press release, watching videos accounts for half of all time spent on Facebook and Instagram. Video is therefore the company’s fastest growing content. It’s hardly surprising that Reels — a direct competitor to TikTok — is being rolled out to as many places as possible.
According to Meta, “Reels is the best way for creators to get discovered, connect with their audience and earn money.” Which shows that they have influencers, wannabe and otherwise, in their crosshairs. So does what the company had to say next.
What features do Facebook Reels have?
Facebook Reels are 60 seconds long. Perhaps they wanted to show TikTok it’s possible to make a video that’s over 30 seconds long. Or perhaps they just didn’t want to be accused of copying the Chinese app’s homework. Just saying. Either way, users can save videos as drafts. This is a great addition, in case something interesting happens during loadshedding. Users can “remix”, which means posting a reel next to a public reel. So just like TikTok, then? In the coming months, Facebook is planning to introduce video clipping tools and more.
Where is Facebook Reels located?
Users can share Reels in Stories on Facebook, within the Watch tab and at the top of the Feed. Basically everywhere, because Facebook (and Meta) really, really want to recapture the youth market. Additionally, in selected countries, Facebook will suggest Reels to users from accounts they don’t already follow. It hasn’t said yet which countries those are, but it’ll happen to everybody eventually. That’s basically Meta’s entire business model. Yay?