With video arguably the most engaging content type, it’s crucial for social platforms to encourage this from users and marketers alike. So how is Facebook jumping on this trend with its latest feature? 

The site has just revealed it will be launching a new feature entitled “Slideshow” to its mobile app for all iOS users. This will enable them to combine multiple videos or photos into one post, creating a “montage” effect. Previously, this was available on Facebook’s standalone “Moments” app, but now it will be a part of its main app, and set to roll out later this week. The option to create a slideshow will be suggested by Facebook at the top of NewsFeed, to any user who has taken more than five photos or videos in the last 24 hours. He or she will also have the ability to edit this footage too, with preset themes, music and transition styles. From both party’s standpoint, it’s a useful new feature- Facebook is expanding on its existing video offerings to rival other platforms, while the update will allow ordinary users to enhance their content, despite not being experienced videographers. This, we imagine, is part of Facebook’s plan to keep user numbers and future activity high.

The news comes shortly after Apple’s announcement of “Memories”, a feature coming to iOS10 later in the year, which will be situated in a new tab inside Photos. Like Slideshow, it will enable users to combine photos and videos into short “movie”-style clips, with various themes, music and transition effects. Apple has also revealed that “Memories” will be AI-powered, using facial and object recognition techniques in order to group people and events by date and location. While Facebook has beaten Apple in the race, there’s also the existing Google Photos Assistant to consider, which amongst its other features, automatically creates mini-movies from the user’s videos and photos. And where Slideshow is concerned, we also see Facebook in this case trying to compete with Snapchat, whose “Stories” feature functions in a similar manner- with Facebook though, these posts would of course be permanent.

So does this show Facebook’s intention to move further towards becoming a video-based platform? Certainly, the new feature will create more animation within NewsFeed, and offer a fun new option for individuals and content creators wishing to share their footage in a creative way. As we’ve looked at before, Facebook’s recent video initiatives include “Live”, the site’s brand new live-streaming service, and it’s announcement to enable gamers to share their game activity with others directly in NewsFeed. It’s evident that Facebook is aiming to become the one-stop destination for video creators and consumers, taking on the likes of YouTube, Snapchat, Vine and Twitch.

However, Facebook’s other intention is to open up its platform further to business marketers, which it claims Slideshow can help with. On its business blog, the company stated that Slideshow will offer another way for advertisers to display content to audiences where Internet connectivity is more limited. These audiences, Facebook revealed, are particularly “receptive to video ads,” although due to poor online accessibility and download speeds, full-scale video can be difficult to view. Slideshow content therefore, will offer a more basic alternative to other video content, and from an advertiser’s perspective, will also be much cheaper to produce, resulting in a win-win situation for all parties.

Will you be testing out Slideshow when it rolls out? Do you think it will rival similar video features offered by other platforms? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.