Facebook’s New Update Could Bring Longer Videos to Your Feed

Facebook has updated its algorithm yet again, and this time long-form videos are getting the attention. On Wednesday, the social media titan announced a change to its News Feed that will now weight “percent completion” — how much of a particular video a user watches – more heavily, the longer a video is. According to Facebook, this update will help the site get a better idea of the type of videos their users enjoy and posted that “if you watch most or all of a video, that tells us that you found the video to be compelling — and we know that completing a longer video is a bigger commitment than completing a shorter one.” So, if you watch a longer video to “completion,” get ready for lots more in your feed.

What does this mean for brands and businesses? For one thing, it’s a stark reminder that video is still king on Facebook, so content creators must continue to adapt. But more specifically, it means content creators should seriously think about developing longer-form videos. Before Wednesday, longer videos were in a sense “penalized” because of how easy it is to watch a short video (like a funny meme or a delectable Tasty recipe) to completion and became difficult for longer content like webisodes or documentary-style videos to get in the mix. With the recent change, Facebook brings a more level playing field for videos of all durations.

This also means that video ads are on their way! With long-form video content in our feeds, you can bet pre-roll and advertisements within videos are soon to follow. As Facebook continues to elevate live and longer videos, it’s not just in the “viral video” game; Facebook wants us to spend more uninterrupted time on its platform.

As the update rolls out over the coming weeks, Facebook predicts that most Page owners won’t see much of a change in content distribution. However, “as a side effect, some shorter videos may see a slight dip in News Feed distribution.”