Facebook steps on YouTube's turf with a creator-focused video app
Facebook is getting serious about high-quality video, and that means getting serious about the people that make high-quality video.
Facebook launched a new app Thursday that it calls a "one stop shop" for all creators. The "Facebook for Creators" app offers exclusive features for making and promoting videos as well connecting with their viewers.
Facebook is backing that up with a new website for creators that offers tips for using Facebook features. Joining the community also makes creators eligible for early access to features and tools.
The app isn't exclusive for creators. Anyone can download it, opening the door to Facebook developing its own homegrown talent.
Both projects are part of Facebook's effort to become more like YouTube, where users come to watch video, and creators upload exclusive content.
Facebook teased the new app in June at the annual digital video conference VidCon. That affair was previously dominated by YouTube, but Facebook has increasingly made its mark.
"It has never been a better time to be a creator on Facebook," Facebook product director Daniel Danker said at VidCon this year. "With Facebook we can connect and create community with your audience and tell stories that are social, personal, and authentic."
Users of the Facebook for Creators app can easily add intros and outros to live videos as well as stickers and frames. A community tab pulls together comments from Facebook and Instagram and messages from Messenger into one inbox. The app also includes analytics about a user's Page and individual videos.
It's not a completely new release. Facebook for Creators is an update to Facebook Mentions, an app previously available to verified accounts on the social network. The new app is available to individuals on Facebook Pages and all Facebook profiles. The app is launching on iOS and will come to Android in the coming months.
Creators can expect more changes to come.
"We’ve gathered feedback from creators as we’ve built these resources, and will continue to take cues from the community as we try to make the Facebook experience fun and easy for creators - so they can do what they do best," Fidji Simo, Facebook's VP of Product, wrote in a blog post.
Topics Facebook Social Media YouTube Celebrities
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
