Videos get a kick from Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) feeds

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has given a boost to videos through its news feeds. Users spotted a video posted by Beyonce on Friday morning and within 4 hours 2.4 million users had watched it; whereas only a few thousand were reported to have watched the same clip on YouTube. Users were highly excited about being able to watch and share the video amongst friends simultaneously, which is not that easily achieved on Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) YouTube.

Parkwood’s Lauren Wirtzer Seawood has stated that Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) plays a vital role in spreading information amongst likeminded people. YouTube can most definitely be labeled as the biggest video search engine site on the internet; however when it comes to social interaction and networking Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) wins the race by an obvious margin. Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) is quick, easy to use, user friendly and highly interactive that’s why about two-thirds of the videos from 1.3 billion are viewed and uploaded from mobiles all over the world. In comparison to YouTube this is only a fraction, but a significant climb within a few months’ time.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) is rapidly becoming popular for posting and spreading online videos. Public Counter is the latest endeavor for Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), which will very conveniently show the number of times a video has been viewed. Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) is slowly grasping the knowledge that video needs to go miles before it is up to the mark. Auto-play of videos which they introduced previously was causing unnecessary data usage, which has now been altered so that this shortcoming can be dealt with.

Features are being introduced so that videos can be uploaded swiftly and effortlessly. With the “Public Counter” video tool introduced by Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) the users will have full control over how and what they see through their platform. Home-made, raw and unedited content, intimate family/friends moments are the type of videos that are becoming part of the Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) video gallery in general.

BuzzFeed, a company globally known for providing content on various topics: including politics, animals and business, is a media giant, who has modified its content slowly and gradually to suit the type of content Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) users would like to watch and share. There was a marked increase by 160%, within a duration of one month, in the amount of videos shared on Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) that were created by BuzzFeed especially for Facebook (NASDAQ:FB).

The event which spread information related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ASL) disease or more commonly known as the ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ showed the world the immense strength Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) holds over videos. Within a duration of 3 months (June – September), the ice bucket challenge has resulted in posting of approximately 17 million videos. The Public Counter has shown that these 17 million videos have been watched more than 10 billion times by 440 million viewers.

In contrast to BuzzFeed, BBC however has found that the platform most suited to sharing its breaking news videos is Twitter, where users are forever searching for the latest stories around the world. For videos that do not have an important time stamp, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) is the platform.