Meta has rolled out Facebook Reels globally, making it available in more than 20 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. Meta Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg, made the announcement, adding that the company was also introducing ways for creators to make money.
“Reels is already our fastest growing content format by far, and today we’re making it available to everyone on Facebook globally.” Zuckerberg wrote on his status.
“We want Reels to be the best place for creators to connect with their community and make a living, so we’re launching new monetization tools too.” he added.
The test version of the Reels feature had already been rolled out to a number of countries including India, Mexico, Canada, the U.S. The feature will now be available across Sub-Saharan countries in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Swaziland, South Africa, Seychelles, Senegal, Rwanda, Nigeria, Namibia, Mali, Malawi, Lesotho, Kenya, Guinea, Ghana, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Burkina Faso.
Read: Facebook Reportedly Offering Money to TikTok Influencers in Anticipation of Reels Launch
The Regional Director for sub-Saharan Africa at Meta Nunu Ntshingila reiterated Zuckerberg’s remarks, saying Reels was the most preferred content format on its platforms.
“We’ve seen that video now accounts for almost all of the time people spend on Facebook and Instagram, and Reels is our fastest growing content format by far. This is why we’re focused on making Reels the best way for creators to get discovered, connect with their audience, and earn money. We also want to make it fun and easy for people to find and share relevant and entertaining content.”
Meta is also developing a number of ways for creators to profit from their reels. The tech giant’s $1 billion creator investment includes the Reels Play bonus program, which will pay eligible creators up to $35,000 per month based on the views of their qualifying reels. The bonus scheme will also be available in the coming months to reward creators for making reels that their communities enjoy.
Read also: Facebook to Ban Content that Sexually Harasses Celebrities
Additionally, Meta is launching brand-suitability controls in Facebook Reels, including publisher lists, blocklists, inventory filters, and delivery reports, which give advertisers better control over where their ads appear in places that they do not consider suitable for their brand or campaign.
Since October last year, Meta has also been testing full-screen and immersive advertisements between Facebook Reels, and will continue to do so globally in the coming months.
The current rollout will come with additional functions for users to remix their Reels, clip the videos, save the Reels as drafts and make 60 second videos.
The Reels can be created and discovered in stories, Facebook Watch, on top of the feed and as suggestions on the Feed. Meta says it is exploring ways of enabling cross-posting of Reels on Instagram and Facebook.
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