Researchers state that Facebook may soon replace YouTube as the top video sharing site.
Videos on Facebook are fast catching up with YouTube in terms of number of shares, and may soon replace YouTube as the top video sharing site.
According to research that includes analysis of 20,000 Facebook pages and over 180,000 posts in one year, Facebook has now emerged as a a real threat to YouTube in terms of video consumption. Researchers state that Facebook’s edge on user engagement is what’s driving creators like brands and celebrities to shift their distribution emphasis from YouTube to native Facebook videos. “It’s much easier to like, comment and interact” on the native videos, researchers add.
Facebook's impact stems from the fact that content sharers are using Facebook's in-built video platform to upload their videos and then sharing them increasingly, while keeping the traffic on the site itself instead of redirecting it to YouTube.
Socialbakers, a social media analytics company, stated on its website, "The content marketers are directly uploading video content to Facebook, meaning that Facebook is retaining the traffic at the expense of YouTube."
Jan Rezab, CEO of Socialbakers, was quoted as saying, "This is a big deal for YouTube. They could lose a big percent of their distribution." This means users will stay on Facebook instead of leaving, he added.
According to the report, "Marketers are going to continue to use the network that is most effective for gaining engagement. Basically, there are no signs of the trend reversing from its current path."
Facebook has also been ramping up efforts to maintain its user base and engage them further to alleviate stagnation. The social networking site had announced that it was serving up to one billion videos a day. Read: Facebook relaunches Atlas ad platform with offline sales tracking
Source: Forbes
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Silky Malhotra
Silky Malhotra loves learning about new technology, gadgets, and more. When she isn’t writing, she is usually found reading, watching Netflix, gardening, travelling, or trying out new cuisines. View Full Profile
