Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) Launches Feature To Change How Users View Live Video

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has introduced a new feature that it hopes will make videos on its platform more appealing. The feature was released in line with the company’s push into live video.

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TechCrunch claims that the feature could be used to completely change how people watch videos on Facebook. The latest feature allows people to skip to the most interesting part of a live video. Users are normally forced to watch an entire clip rather than skipping to the interesting part. Facebook’s new feature knows where the interesting part of a live video is especially for an event that has already taken place. It then allows the viewer to skip or fast forward to that part.

Leveraging comments and reactions for future viewers

How it knows is based on the reactions of the people that have already watched the video. Viewers have the option of commenting or reacting to a live streaming video. The social media firm then uses the comments and the reactions to generate a timeline which shows where the users liked the video, got angry or excited. The timeline appears on the progress bar of the video. Users can take advantage of the information to fast forward to the part of the video that is considered the most interesting.

Facebook was not the first company to pioneer the feature. Soundcloud has a similar feature that lets users see the comments made by other people at different points of a song. The feature makes a lot of sense for live videos especially because most of the people on the social network view live videos after they have already taken place. Facebook claims that the feature will be exclusive to live streams, meaning it will not be present in the other video offerings on the platform.

The company has also revealed that it will launch replays for live video reactions that will be synchronized with recorded broadcasts. This will give users the feeling that they are watching the videos live. The announcement adds to the company’s continued engagement into live videos.

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