With Facebook increasingly geared towards the sharing of videos and engaging content clips, there’s a lot that users need to know about video on Facebook.
For one thing, there are different types and styles of video upload for different areas of the platform.
Reels are quick clips that often follow set formats and use trending audio clips, in a move that mimics the rise of TikTok. Facebook Stories meanwhile offer creators the opportunity to share live clips, quick updates, and roundups of various experiences. Grid videos are the clips that users share onto their feed, which can be long or short and are designed to inform. And Live videos are longer form updates that are sometimes scheduled by creators and sometimes hosted on a whim, allowing followers to engage directly in real-time with the creator.
All of these different types of video on Facebook have their own value, when shared both by private users and by creators or businesses.
So, how do you find them and why does Facebook keep changing its approach to video content?
Finding Videos to Watch on Facebook
Scrolling through your main Facebook feed will throw up a plethora of video clips and content, some of which will be shared by friends while other clips are ads, sponsored posts, and updates from pages and groups you follow.
When you open a video in full screen mode, Facebook takes you directly to a Video feed that you can then continue scrolling down, picking out videos that are similar in style and in theme – designed to entertain you and keep you engaged.
Alternatively, you can click on the Videos tab along the bottom of your main homepage feed on Facebook and select to browse the ‘For You’ video feed of recommended clips, see which ‘Live’ videos are happening right now, watch ‘Reels’, or browse videos shared by the creators who you are ‘Following’.
All of these various routes will take you to Facebook’s endless collection of videos, with the content that you watch and engage with most often informing the kind of videos that will appear as part of your browsing experience.
Why Do Some Videos Suddenly Disappear?
Ever found yourself looking for a video that you remember seeing, but which has suddenly disappeared?
There are several reasons why videos may disappear or suddenly become impossible to find. These include:
- The video was removed by the original creator or the page that posted it
- The creator changed the visibility of the video to private – and you are not connected as friends, meaning you can no longer view the video
- The video was reported by other users and has subsequently been removed from the platform
This means that whether you are looking for the video directly on Facebook or click through to view it from a shared link on another platform, you will be unable to view the content.
Should I Use Videos on Facebook?
If you are keen to increase your reach and boost the visibility of your page, business, or content online, then video is a great way to do so.
Videos are engaging and interactive for users, with high quality content piquing their interest within the first couple of seconds.
What’s more, Facebook favours video content and tends to rank it highly within the algorithm, meaning that video is a good way to get your content seen by more users.
And because there are so many different types of video that you can explore and use as part of your marketing and online outreach, there really is something for every kind of creator, every brand, and every audience.
Happy creating!
