After a year of testing in the United States Facebook Watch, the service for uploading original videos to Facebook, will be released soon worldwide
Facebook is launching Facebook Watch, its video service with original content, worldwide. Already for a year, U.S. users subscribed to Facebook have been able to upload their own videos on the platform and after this testing phase in the U.S. the service will also arrive in Italy.
Facebook Watch wants to be an answer to other services such as Netflix or YouTube, and to tell the truth it is a kind of hybrid between the two. Like Netflix on Facebook Watch there will be original content (sporting events, concerts and movies) that we can watch exclusively within the platform. At the same time, however, as on YouTube we will have room for our creativity. In fact, we will not be limited to watch videos of others but we can also be us to create and upload original movies and nice that could become viral within Facebook Watch.
What is Facebook Watch
But specifically what is Facebook Watch? We said it’s a sort of hybrid between Netflix and YouTube. It is not a platform in itself but it is a new section that will be implemented within Facebook. Where will this new section be found? Simple, we will find the link directly in the Facebook home. Facebook Watch will work on all devices, from PCs to tablets to smartphones. Although Facebook is particularly focused on its use on mobile devices. Obviously you can also use it on smart TVs, which are one of the great objectives of Facebook to counter the dominance of Netflix. What content will we find on the platform? As mentioned there will be videos uploaded by users, videos made by Facebook and original and exclusive videos posted by companies associated with the service. In the United States on Facebook Watch is shown a Champions League game per week and in Latin America you can follow the entire La Liga for free. Facebook is also creating interactive games and quizzes to be used within the Watch function to have fun in the evenings with friends.
How does Facebook Watch work
How can we use Facebook Watch on our Facebook profile? Nothing simpler than that, just like all the other functions of the social network we’ll just have to access the section to start using it. Within Facebook Watch we will have our watchlist where we can insert the videos that interest us, those that we would like to see in the future, those published by artists or pages that we follow and so on. Obviously, each movie uploaded by us or by others can be commented and republished. If we were producers, it is important to know that we can generate earnings by allowing Facebook to place advertisements on our videos. The division of revenue works in this way: 55% to the creator of the video and 45% to Facebook. At least initially in Italy there will be no movies and TV series, but they could be the next step of the service in the near future. In these first months of startup, Facebook will push users to upload to Watch many live streams and videos in real time that can generate debate, comments and become viral to increase the spread of the service.