Hey guess what, Facebook just announced that there will be a new tab, “Watch” as a video hub for shows. Are you even surprise? Well I’m not! No shock there!
Just recently, Kylie Jenner was said to be hosting shows on Snapchat. If that wasn’t enough news, there will be a partnership of Twitter and Bloomberg to provide us 24 -hour news channel.
Source : Facebook
Well back to Facebook, the shows are dubbed to have a different styles from it’s usual in News Feed. Shows in “Watch” will be live providing some ad breaks. They are created notably by partners such as Business Insider, National Geographic, A&E Networks and other outlets.
The competition in the social media industry is getting stronger for Facebook with Snapchat, Twitter, Youtube, etc., being in the same group of distributers and conventional TV studios.
Source : Abhimanyu Ghoshal via The Next Web
Facebook has never experienced much difficulty discovering media accomplices to publish videos. However, they have yet to gain from this. There has been news circulating in the social media industry where programmers would like to benefit and monetize from the ad pie just like Youtube. Well, this is where Facebook Watch comes in.
Do you think Facebook Watch will last knowing there are multiple similar platforms? Will it succeed?
Do you think it was a smart move for Facebook and how would Facebook market “Watch”?
Featured Image credits : Tom Westrick via Android Central
Rachel's Digitales 
Hey Rachel!
Great post!
I talked about the same topic on my blog aswell. Check it out aswell!
But I feel that most people will be curious to see how Watch will be, so it will grab some attention and if viewers like what they see they will continue watching it. Also, Facebook is the most used social media and people already watch videos on it so Watch could add to the list. So i feel
This being said, people will still binge watch shows on Netflix, Youtube or wherever because it’s the place that has all their favourite shows.
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Hey! Thanks! I’ll be sure to check yours out as well.
I think in order for Facebook watch to succeed, it needs to have shows that people will like to watch or commonly watches because if not there wouldn’t be a point as people can just jump onto Netflix or Youtube to watch their usuals because they are already comfortable and is familiar with it. They wouldn’t want the hastle to learn the new arrangements in the new app or website. I do think that Facebook Watch should also have a user friendly interface to help overcome this issue.
On the other hand, at the beginning of Facebook Watch release date, it will capture some attention as people are natural curious human beings. If Facebook made a good enough or long lasting impression, users might just stick with it.
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*So I feel Facebook’s Watch would be successful it it’s own way
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If Facebook Watch is something that catches on then I really think it will be an awesome way for them to raise revenue! People are already using (and addicted to) Facebook, so having something extra to draw them in and keep them on the platform is only going to be good for Facebook.
This article is definitely worth a read too 🙂 http://mashable.com/2017/08/11/facebook-watch-wants-your-other-24-hours-a-day/#kV_nZtukZgq7. It is crazy to think that the average person spends almost an hour on Facebook per day already!!
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Thanks! It’s an interesting article! Yeahh I agree, Facebook Watch will really need to target their audience smartly. With all the videos and posts going up daily making profit for Facebook, they are bound to find a way to earn from all the ads circulating in Facebook.
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Hey, this is something new to me! No one knows whether Facebook Watch will succeed. Facebook is the world’s most successful social network, they tried to add the 24h “Stories” feature influenced by Snapchat but it was a failure. I highly doubt that Facebook Watch will succeed because there are already several favourable platforms to watch movies or videos. For instance, Netflix or YouTube are favoured by consumers. Facebook is well known as a social platform to communicate with others, where people post and comment on wall posts and chat on messenger. For Facebook Watch to succeed, they might have to come up with a strategic marketing plan or boost their advertising to attract consumers to use it. I don’t think many consumers are aware of Facebook Watch yet. Companies who invest and position ads in Facebook Watch might be useless and it might not reach their target market, just like Instagram ads.
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Yeahh I agree with you. Facebook Watch will need to have common and widely known shows in order to lure people to use it. They would need to target the right audience as well. Nevertheless, Facebook Watch might succeed as no costs to users were mentioned which is a benefit to users where as Netflix needs a monthly subscription fee. People just might get attracted at the “no cost” benefit because who wouldn’t like free stuff? It has yet to launch so we will just have to wait and see how it goes.
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I find it amusing to see Facebook still trying and experimenting with different ways to connect with different aspects of people’s daily lives. They have tried and tried again with apps such as Lifestage (a direct competitor with Snapchat) and Groups, which eventually got shut down due to lack of popularity. I feel like they should focus ideally on the core of their company, which is Facebook and it’s ideal purpose, to connect people among one another. I do respect their confidence in trying to enter this market, but it will be difficult to compete with the big players such as Netflix, Stan and Apple TV as these companies have bought the legal rights to stream the movies. This will cause the selection of playable media on Facebook ‘Watch’ to look limited as well as lacking. Although Netflix does have a subscription fee, I was given a free month trial, and in my usage, I barely feel the cost of the monthly subscription fees. It’s also important to note that in the “one month trial” period I have already grown accustomed to it’s interface and ease of use (playable on most devices). I would find it troublesome to switch to Facebook “Watch”, which I feel that a majority of Netflix and Apple TV users would feel.
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I totally agree on how users of Netflix and Apple TV would find it troublesome to switch and how Facebook should just focus on their core purpose. It is nice to know Facebook is trying to adapt to all the new trends in the market lately but I find it a little too much. There are heaps of things going on in Facebook which might just push users away as it’s initial interface was more user friendly and what the mass was used to. I guess Facebook is just trying to expand themselves accustoming to the trends these days because the competitiveness in the social media industry has increased significantly and they obviously want to hold their position.
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Woah this is totally new to me, I have never known that there will be a separate function on the app just for videos. I reckon that Facebook Watch would perform outstandingly regardless of similar competitors as the majority of the population of the world has a Facebook account making brand awareness and image already in hand. Perhaps, introducing customer feedbacks and online forums to gain valuable consumer insight to improving Facebook Watch. This will ensure continuous improvements to be ahead of competitors and to keep consumers interested in it.
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Yes I believe Facebook Watch will either succeed or fail, no in between. With the heaps of competitors Facebook will have to surpass in order for Facebook Watch to succeed, it will be interesting to see how Facebook will market their new tab “Watch”. We will just have to wait and see. 🙂
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Interesting! This is the first time I’ve ever heard about Facebook Watch. It is certainly interesting to know that Facebook decides to enter such industry even though there is a massive amount of similar platforms that provide such services. Personally, I think whether or not Facebook Watch succeed really depends on how Facebook decides to market it. Nevertheless, Facebook has a huge advantage compare to other competitors as most people already have at least one Facebook account. Hence, it will be easier for Facebook to introduce Facebook Watch to customers without much marketing efforts, leveraging Facebook’s brand image and reputation. However, it might still not succeed as people have already gotten used to other similar platforms such as Netflix, hence they will find it annoying to switch to a different platform. This is quite similar to when Microsoft decides to create their own web browser and compete against other companies such as Google chrome, Firefox etc.
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Yes, that was what I was thinking. With the massive amount of similar platforms, it will be tough for Facebook Watch to succeed as people are very comfortable and accustomed with their usual fixes on Netflix, Apple TV, etc. Facebook have been adding several platforms that are trending but not all of them were very successful such as their live stories. It will be interesting on how Facebook intends to extend their marketing for Facebook Watch and whether it will succeed.
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Great post by the way! I do think people would actually give it a go and it could possibly be the next platform for advertising but they’d need to target and appeal to their audience well since so many other applications already have this feature.. What makes them different from the others? We’d have to see how FB takes a spin on this new function
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Thanks! Yes it will be interesting to see how Facebook market this. They have tried following the trend like the live stories but from my opinion, it was not very successfully especially with such big competitors like Snapchat and Instagram. With this new tab, they will really need to implement good strategies in order for it to work.
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Hi Rachel,
I read a similar post to yours about Facebook’s new show hub “Watch”. I think it won’t last long considered how the content will disappear every 24hours, release an episode once a week, or just a special one-off episode. Because Millenial love to binge watch and this is one thing Facebook may have to modify to suit our needs.
I think YouTube will definitely need to plan for the future as Facebook will continuously try to become the monopoly of everything related to social media. But considered how developed YouTube is, Watch may not be successful. It may just become another “Pokemon Go” hype.
See my post at https://melbournemarketer.wordpress.com/2017/08/17/wish-you-were-born-in-a-different-race/
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It does seem that Facebook Watch will be just another hype. Like you said Facebook has been continuously following the trends, with that said, I feel that Facebook has too much going on in its app as they are trying to put it all under one app. People are used to and familiar with just using Facebook as a way to communicate with the world and their friends and now it is just overloading with information.
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Interesting post! Is really amazed that how Facebook come out with this idea by compiling all the video and this really convince users like me that loves to binge watch all these short videos. However, if the content disappear every 24hours, i doubt the users will be too happy about it. Also, there is a lot of platform that could watch videos and users might not rely on Facebook watch too heavily? is the same concept where Facebook added the features of “fb story” and not a lot of people using it due to there is some other platform such as IG and SC been using it. Its hard to change consumer’s behaviour and pattern, but who knows it might work if FB brings in videos that other platform might not have?
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Yeahh it is competitive in this platform that Facebook is trying to venture in with Netflix, Apple TV and now even with Disney coming out with their own. They have a tough crowd. I think they have too much going on in their app as well as they are trying to adapt all the trends continuously. We will just have to see how Facebook will market Watch.
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Interesting read! I think Facebook moving into this on-demand tv space is really big and can’t be underestimated. Facebook is good for search but if you think about it it’s actually a content focused platform. Most of the time we go on Facebook is to consumer content so it makes sense they would move into this space eventually.
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This makes sense! Honestly, I didn’t think of it from that point of view. Great comment! This makes me think more on how Facebook Watch can succeed but for me, I feel Facebook has already an overwhelming of content in it which might make consumers back away from it as users nowadays don’t like contents that are too long or too much as we have a goldfish span of attention.
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Yeah I agree! I feel the newsfeed is getting more and more cluttered and it will be interesting to see how FB navigates through this.
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Yeah we’ll just have to wait and see how Facebook’s going to implement it. Hopefully it doesn’t turn out to be like their strategy of implementing the live story function.
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Great read! I think as a lot of views regarding Facebook watch has been touched by a few comments above me already. However, I would have to disagree on Facebook rivalling Netflix because they target two different target markets. Nevertheless, Facebook has agreed that it would be primarily be rivalling YouTube in this content/video segment, as to Netflix being 1hour long TV-series and Facebook Watch being 10-20 minutes short videos. Lastly, I think Facebook is rolling Facebook Watch as another avenue for them to target consumers with ads and charge businesses with more ad space, what do you think?
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Yes I feel it is one of their main reasons on implementing Facebook Watch as they do not generate any income from their usual contents. With Facebook Watch, they can easily monetize the ads coming into their app as they are already one of the top social media marketing platform. This is will be of no issue to Facebook. Anyhow, not much information about the details of Facebook Watch has been released. We will just have to wait and see what Facebook intends to do with Facebook Watch.
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