Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is launching a new service “Say Thanks” that will enable the users to send video cards to their friends and family. The service only started showing up on users’ pages yesterday, so it might still need to iron out a few bugs.
Users can “Say Thanks” in eight languages
Users will be able to access a “Say Thanks” link on their desktop as well as on mobile devices. From the link, they will be given an option along with an auto-generated list to select a friend to send the video to.
Users can make some changes in the photos and theme of the 45 second video before it shows on the timeline and is tagged to a friend. You also have the freedom to select languages such as Spanish, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish, and of course English.
The post with the video will read “Hey XXXX, I made you a video to say thanks for being such a good friend. You can make your own at fb.com/thanks #saythanks.” The world’s largest social networking company launched a similar service, “The Year in Review” video reel in 2012, enabling users to see their past activities.
Facebook focusing on video content
The new application from Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) comes just weeks ahead of Thanksgiving, but these videos are not projected to be Thanksgiving-focused according to creators Cameron Ewing, a design manager, and Nick Kwiatek, an engineer and manager. The service will be launched across the globe, and the American holiday of Thanksgiving is not associated with the service. Ewing said that the video service will continue after the holiday is over.
The Menlo Park-based company is focusing on content creation like it launched “Look Back” videos on its 10th anniversary in February. Look Back videos were concerned only with one user instead of two, and Ewing and Kwiatek, also the creators of Look Back video, were encouraged with the positive feedback from their earlier project.
In the first month, over 200 million subscribers created Look Back videos according to Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), and approximately half of those videos were shared with friends. The online social networking site is promoting video content vigorously with gradual roll-out of its new video ads and creating more user-generated video, which allows the users to customize the newsfeed with the type of videos they prefer.
