Three years ago, someone said a powerful word to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg that he probably doesn’t hear often. The word was “NO”. That someone who said it was Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel. Spiegel, 23 years old at the time, rejected Facebook’s bid to buy Snapchat at 3 billion dollars. Many people thought it was a foolish decision, including myself. I had a strong feeling that it would spark something but I wasn’t sure what.
It seems clear today that Facebook is on a mission to dominate the streaming video world. With other video apps like Periscope, Blab and Snapchat, Facebook is taking them on and pulling no stops for total dominance. Think about what they’ve done the past several months. Last summer, Facebook quietly released “Live” into the mix and it made some noise. Barely one month ago, they announced that they were placing trending videos into the search. They also enabled tags to be added to original video content. Last week, Facebook announced that they are developing a stand alone camera app with live streaming video capabilities. You have to give Mark Zuckerburg credit; when he goes for something, he goes all in.
This latest move is simple; Facebook just put their chips on the table against Periscope, Blab and Snapchat. All I can say is don’t pay attention to the red herrings in this story. The main target in Facebook’s crosshairs without a doubt is Snapchat. The company today is worth around $16 billion (that’s with a “B”, folks) and is still the fastest growing social network out there. They have over 100 million daily users and over 7 billion video views a day. You think Facebook isn’t watching? You think they don’t want a piece (or all) of that action? Snapchat’s success is because they embraced video from day one.
Facebook arrived late to this party but the fact remains that they’re here and ready to takeover. The battle for your eyes and streaming video has just begun and I intend to watch every aspect of it…streaming, of course.
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