Fidji Simo, Product Management Director of Video at Facebook, updated the company's blog with news that the social network is rolling out a new feature this week, allowing Facebook members to see how many views a specific video has received. These views will be shown on public videos posted by Pages and people.
According to Simo, Facebook saw a 50 percent growth in video viewing between May and July. He said that since June, there are now more than 1 billion video views every day. Even more, 65 percent of those viewings are on Facebook's mobile apps.
"Last year, videos started coming to life with auto-play as people scrolled through their News Feed. This update rolled out slowly so we could listen to feedback and make tweaks. Today, people in the US and many countries around the world see videos auto-play in their News Feed," Simo said.
Facebook improved its video ranking in the News Feed back in June so that the clips are more interesting and more "relevant" to the user. Currently, the company is using mobile customers to test a new way for those people to discover additional videos. This includes showing recommended clips once the video has finished, like on YouTube.
Simo also said that public figures and publishers are now beginning to share more video content on the social network. They're using the "recommended" method when a video ends, suggesting that viewers head to the official website, make a purchase, watch another video and so on.
In related news, Facebook told Reuters on Monday that one out of every ten Africans log into Facebook each month. Even more, 80 percent of those logging on are doing so via a mobile connection. An Ericsson study performed earlier this year discovered that 7 in 10 Africans access the Internet through mobile phones. Six percent do so via the desktop.
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