Facebook to take on 'YouTube' with 'Watch'

'Watch', Facebook's latest venture into provision as well as creation of visual content is being tagged as its competition to YouTube. This latest feature of Facebook which is now being introduced to a limited group of people in US, will soon be launched worldwide.

Facebook is introducing ''Watch'', expanding its ambit over to videos now.

New Delhi: After giving competition to likes of Orkut and Friendster, and decimating them, Facebook (FB)  is now ready to take on the visual content providing portal YouTube with its new feature "Watch". In Facebook Newsroom's blog, it has been announced that FB is introducing ''Watch'' to provide its users with the videos they want to see. ''We’re introducing Watch, a new platform for shows on Facebook. Watch will be available on mobile, on desktop and laptop, and in our TV apps. Shows are made up of episodes — live or recorded — and follow a theme or storyline. To help you keep up with the shows you follow, Watch has a 'Watchlist' so you never miss out on the latest episodes.'' the blog reads. The new feature will help the users to watch videos and shows and simultaneously connect with other people watching it through comments and reactions. The videos will be sorted in different sections. There will be sections like ''Most talked About'' sorted on the basis of triggered conversations, and  ''What's Making People Laugh'' sorted on the basis of the number of ''Haha'' reactions generated. There will be another section of ''What Friends Are Watching'' which will help viewers connect with friends about the shows they too are following. Not only this, it will have a section of Facebook Shows which will offer a platform for video creators and publishers. It will enable them to generate money through Facebook shows. Creators can come up with shows that engage fans and community, live shows that connect directly with fans, shows that follow a narrative arc or have a consistent theme and live events that bring communities together. ''We think Watch will be home to a wide range of shows, from reality to comedy to live sports. To help inspire creators and seed the ecosystem, we’ve also funded some shows that are examples of community-oriented and episodic video series','' the blog reads. According to the blog, 'Watch' will first be introduced to a limited group of people in the US and after that it will be introduced to more people.