To date, 2015 has been the Year of Video for Facebook. With lofty advertising plans, suggested videos and embedable auto-play videos, Facebook is looking to cement their place in the online video space. A new feature being tested may help in their push against YouTube.
Facebook is testing a new “Watch Later” button that allows users to flag a video so they can watch it at a later time. The new button was spotted for desktop viewers as a small overlay in the upper right corner. This feature appears to operate similarly to Facebook Save, the article-saving feature launched one year ago. Of course, this is just another reason for marketers to push video content on Facebook and for advertisers to keep Facebook video top-of-mind.
This feature may benefit the social network by keeping users on the site longer, while allowing them to come back later at their own leisure. Instead of hoping users come back to Facebook to see a video when they have time, this allows for a more “channeled” experience. While nice, this isn’t new. YouTube currently has this feature displayed as a clock in the bottom right of videos.
For more information, see the report from TechCrunch. Image courtesy of TechCrunch.
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