Meta launches Stories on Instagram in 2020 and on Facebook in 2021.
Menlo Park:
Facebook is rolling out the Reels short video feature to more than 150 countries, owner Meta Platforms said Tuesday, in a move to expand its fastest-growing content format.
The social media giant, which recently lost a third of its market value following a dismal earnings report, has highlighted Reels as a key priority.
Meta launches Reels on Instagram in 2020 and on Facebook in 2021 as an answer to popular short video app TikTok, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance.
“Reels has been our fastest-growing content format to date, and today we’re making it available to everyone on Facebook globally,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post. on Facebook on Tuesday.
The company, which says video now accounts for half of the time people spend on Facebook, has also announced new ways for creators to make money through the Reels feature.
It says it is expanding its program to pay creators bonuses to more countries, and is testing overlay ads that use banners and stickers for creators to earn ad revenue. It will soon roll out full-screen ads between Stories.
Meta said in its latest earnings that it has faced effects from Apple Inc’s privacy changes to its operating system, which have made it difficult for brands to target and measure their ads on Facebook and Instagram. It also cited macroeconomic issues such as supply chain disruptions.
Last month, the 18-year-old tech giant also warned it expected revenue growth to slow next quarter due to increased competition for user time and an interactive shift towards features like Reels, which generate less revenue.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Meta also said it will roll out updates for users to make and view Facebook Reels in new places, such as in the Stories feature, the View tab, and at the top of the news feed. ie. In some countries, users will also see Recommended Stories in their feed.
