Early this year, Facebook started testing out a new feature for Groups called Watch Party. Basically, it allows people within a group to watch a video together (live and/or pre-recorded) and interact through comments and reactions. It looks like they got a lot of positive feedback from the groups that tried it out and now they’re ready to let the whole world in on the party. All Facebook Groups globally will now be able to watch videos together and they even brought some improvements based on what the test groups had to say.
If this is the first time you’re hearing about this feature, Facebook launched it last January to give the ability for groups to have more interaction by watching videos together instead of just posting a video in the group and waiting for everyone else to watch it. It’s basically like watching TV together but in your own pockets of the world. Groups used it to share tips on cooking and crafting, sharing behind the scenes details of specific videos or short films, learning new things, and also inviting special guests to join a party.
Based on the feedback, they’re adding two new features to Watch Party. First, you can now add a co-host to your viewing party so they can help you with adding videos and maybe even leading and moderating the conversation. There is also a new thing called Crowdsourcing where members of the group can suggest to the host and co-hosts videos that they can add to the viewing session. The videos are of course subject to approval.
To get the party started, various Facebook Groups are having a Weekend of Watch Parties from July 27-29. This includes Buzzfeed Tasty, Fitness Sisters, Female Travel Bloggers, Jamie Oliver’s 5-day Veggie Challenge, etc. If you already run a Group, check the feature out or create your very own Group so you can try watching videos together with selected friends.
SOURCE: Facebook
