The next time you fire up Facebook, you might notice it looks a little more like TikTok.
Meta announced today that it’s launching a new full-screen video player that brings all of the site’s video formats, including Reels, live videos, and longer videos, into one area — hopefully making it easier to share videos no matter the format.
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The player will have controls like a slider to skip around in longer videos plus a tap option that lets you jump forward or backward 10 seconds — for example, if you missed a step in a recipe.
There’s going to be a horizontal video mode as well. Videos will appear vertically by default, but when possible, there’ll be an option to flip to horizontal. Additionally, users will see more relevant videos related to their interests regardless of length or format. These recommendations will appear outside the new player and on the main Facebook feed.
Pointing to the popularity of smartphone-driven TikTok-style content, the release noted: “While Facebook continues to be the home for all types of video, we’ll show even more Reels to meet the growing demand for this format.”
Facebook says the updated video player will be rolling out on Android and iOS in the US and Canada first, and globally over the next few months.
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These updates, the company said, will give creators more opportunities to tap into additional audiences they might not have been able to reach before. It was just last November the company introduced new ways for creators to grow their audience, such as experimenting with different versions of a Reel to see which one performs best, using generative AI to make the best possible videos, and offering the ability to create Reels from existing video posts and live streams on mobile.