Facebook has recently announced that it will be doing away with profile videos across the platform entirely, reports Matt Navarra.
Profile videos are one of the more interesting additions to the interface that Facebook has added in recent times. Perhaps the reason they're alluring to me is that they're very reminiscent of the moving photographs in Harry Potter; I've always been a big fan. At any rate, videos also kind of seems like the next natural genesis of profile photos, right? It's an idea that allows for more personal expression from users, which after all is exactly what profile pictures are about. In a glance, people can identify what it is that you're about and see you at your best! I can see why Facebook seemed so drawn towards the idea, and they're not the only ones either. LinkedIn has also integrated profile videos into its interface, although I expect users to be a bit more professional in those.
However, with every good addition to the interface, there must come some amount of associated baggage. For Facebook, this boiled down to a very leggy interface brought on by just how much effort it takes to load a video on the platform. The social network's app already moves at a relatively sluggish pace, and videos popping up with every new post definitely didn't help matters. The other problem with profile videos is one of quality. Videos and photos on Facebook always lose a bit of quality when being uploaded, and profile videos are certainly no exception. Therefore, the trade-off for lag videos that take time to load with an end result that's more often than not a little pixelated doesn't really make sense. Perhaps I'm reading too much into the matter, and Facebook has some other ulterior motive. Maybe profile videos just aren't doing as well on the platform as anticipated.
Whatever the reason may be, Facebook has decided to stop the publication of profile videos. From the 7th of February onwards, as specified by a pop-up notification on the platform, users will no longer be able to upload anything other than photos. For users that already have videos uploaded, a default thumbnail from said video will end up being used as a profile picture instead. Of course, until users choose to upload another nice photo of themselves at the beach with sunglasses on instead. Accompanied by a caption pulled from the first inspirational quote Google dredges up.
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Profile videos are one of the more interesting additions to the interface that Facebook has added in recent times. Perhaps the reason they're alluring to me is that they're very reminiscent of the moving photographs in Harry Potter; I've always been a big fan. At any rate, videos also kind of seems like the next natural genesis of profile photos, right? It's an idea that allows for more personal expression from users, which after all is exactly what profile pictures are about. In a glance, people can identify what it is that you're about and see you at your best! I can see why Facebook seemed so drawn towards the idea, and they're not the only ones either. LinkedIn has also integrated profile videos into its interface, although I expect users to be a bit more professional in those.
However, with every good addition to the interface, there must come some amount of associated baggage. For Facebook, this boiled down to a very leggy interface brought on by just how much effort it takes to load a video on the platform. The social network's app already moves at a relatively sluggish pace, and videos popping up with every new post definitely didn't help matters. The other problem with profile videos is one of quality. Videos and photos on Facebook always lose a bit of quality when being uploaded, and profile videos are certainly no exception. Therefore, the trade-off for lag videos that take time to load with an end result that's more often than not a little pixelated doesn't really make sense. Perhaps I'm reading too much into the matter, and Facebook has some other ulterior motive. Maybe profile videos just aren't doing as well on the platform as anticipated.
Whatever the reason may be, Facebook has decided to stop the publication of profile videos. From the 7th of February onwards, as specified by a pop-up notification on the platform, users will no longer be able to upload anything other than photos. For users that already have videos uploaded, a default thumbnail from said video will end up being used as a profile picture instead. Of course, until users choose to upload another nice photo of themselves at the beach with sunglasses on instead. Accompanied by a caption pulled from the first inspirational quote Google dredges up.
Read next: Meta claims to built the world's fastest AI supercomputer within 6 months