Competition is fierce. It's either adapt and evolve, or get left behind others' business dust.
Meta is the largest social media company around, and that it owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and more. While it does enjoy the breeze of being on top of the food chain, competition is hard, even for the giant.
Despite having one of the most complex platforms out there, Facebook is facing a tough competition from TikTok.
The platform is extremely popular among youngsters, and that it has become of the pop culture itself.
Through its engaging short-form, full-screen videos, there is no denying how people could lose time while scrolling its endless feed.
Meta knows how to deal with this issue, just like how it did in the past.
The method, is by copying.
This time, Facebook is launching an updated video player that provides a consistent design for all video lengths, including Reels, longer videos, and Live content, in one full-screen.
With the update, whenever users tap on a video in the Facebook app, the video will always open in full-screen and be oriented vertically.
Although videos appear vertically by default, Facebook adds an option on most horizontal videos, where they can switch to landscape for better viewing.
This updated video player is designed to grab people's attention, and increase interaction.
Previously, depending on the video’s length or where users were watching, they might have seen horizontal videos or videos playing in a feed-like player.
But what is important to note, the video player bears a striking resemblance to TikTok.
Not to mention, Facebook also borrows TikTok's slider at the bottom of the screen.
Facebook calls it the "scrubber."
The update also brings some of the same features streamers like Netflix offer in their apps, such as the option to jump forward or backward by 10 seconds.
"Outside the new player, you’ll also now see more relevant video recommendations, regardless of length, on Feed and on the Video Tab. And 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," explained Facebook in the announcement.
"These updates also mean that more types of creators will have more opportunities to tap into additional audiences they might not have reached before."