From Facebook’s policy update to YouTube’s redesign, this month has been full of rapid changes in the video technology ecosystem. Below we’ve highlighted the most important information that will impact your digital experience:
New Facebook Policy Refines Live Video Feature
Facebook is updating the policy of one of its most popular features for video creators. The social media giant announced Monday it’s putting restrictions on any Facebook Live videos containing “static, animated or looping images.” The Facebook policy will also flag live-stream polls that contain a static image. Penalties for violating the updated policy could result in limited traction on the fake videos and users being blocked from accessing the Live feature. These fraudulent streams became a cause for concern when “5 of the top 10 Facebook Live videos of 2016 were just graphical counters, like countdown clocks and polls.” The goal of these new restrictions is to restore spontaneity that Facebook thinks attracts viewers to a live broadcast.
YouTube’s New Desktop Design
Earlier this month, YouTube unveiled its plan to roll out an entirely new redesign of their desktop experience. YouTube’s updated interface will be more customizable and user-friendly with an aim to create a simple look that better highlights content. In order to do so, YouTube will apply Google’s latest formatting standard, Material Design. This new standard utilizes grid-based layouts and responsive animations to create neat, sleek, and highly-usable interfaces. YouTube’s redesign will also introduce a variety of new features that include infinite scrolling, profile banners that extend full screen, and a larger featured video on a user’s profile page. The new design will be built on a new, faster framework, which will enable quicker feature development and deployment for users to enjoy. YouTube’s redesign is currently only available to a limited amount of users, but you can test it out here.
Instagram Stories Becoming More Popular than Snapchat
Instagram has followed in Snapchat’s footsteps once again. Last August Instagram released a capability almost identical to Snapchat that allows for users to post “stories” to their page that last for 24 hours before they disappear from their profile. There has been much controversy surrounding Instagram’s debut of stories due to it’s similarity to Snapchat, and recently the app has announced a few new features that make the two even more alike. Instagram revealed that users will now have the ability to add face filters into their photos and videos, and even allows for some filters to include a second person in the frame. Along with this, Instagram released a rewind option that lets users choose to play their videos in reverse. Both of which are features that Snapchat already has. Last month Instagram had over 200 million daily users, which is more than that of Snapchat’s disappointing 166 million users. This leads to the question of whether or not Snapchat can continue to compete with Instagram.
Tumblr Releases New Cabana App
Last month, Tumblr released a new mobile app called Cabana that enables users to video chat, share, and view videos in real-time. Up to six friends can join a “room” in Cabana to watch and share videos simultaneously. Cabana is intended to blend the experience of watching and hanging out, a trend known as social watching. This concept is not the first to be done, as Vevo and YouTube have released similar apps, Watch Party and Uptime. Both allow users to connect and interact with one another by searching for videos through the apps’ extensive video libraries and viewing them with one another in real-time. Since the Cabana app doesn’t have its own video library, YouTube has made its videos available to its users through API integration. This can serve useful for YouTube content creators, as they will be able to widen their reach on an additional social media platform and provide them with extra promotional opportunities.
The constant change in video technology can be hard to keep track of, so Vydia is here to provide you with everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Be sure to stay informed on all of the latest content by following our weekly blogs.