Facebook adds video feature to its comments section
Facebook continues to extend its emphasis on video content with a new feature that enables users to leave recorded video messages in the comments section. Currently available on desktop, the feature is also to be rolled out to iOS and Android in the near term. Users click the camera icon to record a video, which stores in the same way as posted photos. While Facebook remains the dominant app among US iPhone users, video-heavy Snapchat has moved into second place overtaking Facebook-owned Instagram.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine what a video can do.

Facebook announced on Friday(opens in a new tab) it will now allow users to leave a video in the comments section, as the company continues to emphasize video content as we consume more of it.

You can leave a video by clicking the camera button in the comments box and uploading one. It's available currently on desktop web, but the next update will expand the feature to its iOS and Android apps.

Similar to photos, it appears that the apps will allow you to record and upload a video on the fly from your mobile.

Facebook engineer Bob Baldwin said the feature was built during Facebook's 50th hackathon in February this year. Baldwin worked on adding photos and stickers to comments in previous hackathons.



This move follows Facebook altering its algorithm earlier this year to push live videos up higher in your News Feed, after rolling out the cinema-style dedicated video feeds with black backgrounds.

Facebook sits on top of the pile right now in terms of time spent in its app, according to data(opens in a new tab) on U.S. iPhone users from App Annie. But video-heavy Snapchat is catching up. Snapchat is now in second place after recently overtaking Instagram, which also belongs to Facebook.

Instagram is also reacting to its users spending more time on video. In March, It expanded its 15-second video limit to a far more generous 60 seconds, allowing video producers to put together more elaborate content on its platform.

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