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Facebook exec: “A year or two from now, we think Facebook will be mostly video”

In the ever-growing fight to adapt or die, Facebook, in an attempt to further compete with YouTube and similar video streaming services, reportedly plans to up their video content significantly in the next couple of years. During a panel at Variety's Entertainment and Technology Summit earlier this week, Facebook's head of ad product, Ted Zagat, commented, “A year or two from now, we think Facebook will be mostly video.” As to what that means specifically, we'll have to wait and see.

Zagat reportedly also mentioned that a potential shift to virtual reality could be the next big move Facebook makes after that. 

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Facebook's video presence has already given YouTube a run for its money with exponential growth in the past year or so, as Business Insider has pointed out. However, it hasn't been all smooth sailing, as the popular social media site has had to crack down on unauthorized redistribution of videos, also know as “freebooting,” by implementing new management technology following loads of criticism. As one YouTube vlogger has mentioned, echoing the sentiments of many in the field, “It’s a little inexcusable that Facebook, a company with a market cap of $260 BILLION, launched their video platform with no system to protect independent rights holders.” This is a system Facebook plans to rectify and is likely the first step in moving toward this new video-based focus.

In a recent blog post, Facebook addressed the issue: “it’s not fair to those who work hard to create amazing videos.We want creators to get credit for the videos that they own. To address this, we have been exploring ways to enhance our rights management tools to better empower creators to control how their videos are shared on Facebook.”

Read more: YouTube music growing 60 percent faster than all other streaming services combined 

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