Zuckerberg wants it all.
Facebook accounts for a moderately large amount of screentime for the average internet user. But YouTube accounts for a significant amount more. And so, Facebook is launching Watch to compete for that sweet, sweet video money.
Watch comes with a host of personalization options. It also emphasizes episodes and series, which hints at possibly hosting commercial television as well. But at the end of the day, it is a platform for video content on Facebook. And we all know what that means.
Is your video inappropriate? It’ll get the Zucc. Is it not approved political content? It gets the Zucc. Does it feature a camera angle composite of a goose and a campfire? Oh, that’ll definitely get the Zucc.
While having a variety of options is a good thing, I’m not terribly optimistic in general. Both Facebook and YouTube, while the top of what they each do, are both in favor of rules and guidelines that occasionally seem to screw over their users (animators felt that one cut deep). YouTube in particular has been prone to this in the past, especially recently. Which may be the blood in the water Facebook caught a whiff of. Either way, they only need to pass the bar YouTube sets to potentially draw users away from YouTube. There’s also the fact that, while there are alternate sites like Vimeo and Dailymotion, they make comparatively minimal strides against YouTube. The thing Facebook has in its favor, though, is a large, preexisting userbase. Which may give them the chance they need to succeed.
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