Facebook's New Watch Party Feature Allows Users to Watch Videos with Friends

In a recent post on her contour, Fidji Simo, VP Product at Facebook, has unveiled a new feature for Groups. The feature, which is currently being tested with a few Groups, is chosen 'Lookout man Political party' and allows users to sentry videos with their friends.

Group administrators tin can include any public video on Facebook in a Watch Party, both live and prerecorded. Facebook claims that the goal of the new feature is to make watching videos a fun and social experience, rather than a passive one.

Describing the new feature Simo wrote:

"In a Watch Party, members of a Group can watch videos together in the same space at the same fourth dimension- videos are chosen by the Group admins and moderators, and can exist any public videos on Facebook (live or recorded). With everyone watching, commenting and reacting to the same moments together, information technology creates a shared viewing experience for video that helps build the kind of community and engagement we've seen with Live."

In society to start a Watch Party, Group admins or moderators tin select one or more videos and post them to the grouping. When the political party is alive, Group members will see a Watch Party widget on the group's folio.

Facebook Watch Party

Upon joining a Watch Party, members will automatically see the video everyone else is watching. If the Watch Party includes more than i video, members will be able to see which video is coming upwards. Group members volition be able to comment and react in real time, and if they're on mobile devices the comments will be displayed in an overlay on the video.

The company claims to have introduced the new feature in order to encourage social interaction on the platform. Turning existing videos into a alive effect with a number of people watching makes them more than interesting for the viewers, Facebook said.

"Equally we think about video on Facebook, we're focused on creating experiences that bring people closer together and inspire human being connection instead of passive consumption", Simo added. As of now, the company hasn't revealed when the feature volition become live for all groups.