Facebook officially launches mobile app, educational site for video creators

Facebook is officially launching its standalone app for video creators to manage their channels on the social network. After previewing the Facebook Creators app in June, the iOS version is rolling out globally on Thursday to all Pages and individual accounts, though the Android version won’t be available until sometime “in the coming months,” according to Facebook.

Similar to YouTube’s Studio app, Facebook’s Creators app is designed to make it easier for creators to manage their video channels on Facebook and therefore more likely that creators will upload videos to the social network as the company looks to grow its video ad revenue through the insertion of ads within some creators’ videos and the rollout of its hub for more TV-like video programming, Watch. The more videos posted to Facebook, the more videos for people to watch on Facebook, the more ads for Facebook to serve. Further to that end, Facebook is also rolling out a site to educate up-and-coming creators on how to get started.

Facebook Creators app

Creators can use the Facebook Creators app to up the production quality of their live videos, manage their comments and messages from viewers, post Stories across Facebook and Instagram and analyze their videos’ performance. And creators with shows on Facebook’s Watch tab can also use the app through their Show pages, though that option remains in testing with a limited number of creators.

Facebook Creators app

The Facebook Creators app features a live creative kit so that creators can add intros, outros and graphic frames to make their Facebook Live broadcasts look more official; the kit also includes a custom stickers that viewers can interact with while watching the stream. A community tab will house all the messages that creators receive through Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, allowing them to review and respond in one place instead of three. Creators can use the app’s in-app camera to create photos and videos using Facebook’s Snapchat-esque augmented-reality filters and frames and post them to their Stories on Facebook. And finally, an insights tab will display analytics for the creators’ Pages, videos and their audiences.

Facebook for Creators site

In addition to the Facebook Creator app, Facebook is rolling out a website to serve as a resource and education center for creators. In the vein of YouTube’s Creators site, the Facebook for Creators site will feature areas for creators to find tips and answers to common questions and also to get chances to try out new features and tools before they become more widely available.

About The Author

Tim Peterson

Tim Peterson, Third Door Media’s Social Media Reporter, has been covering the digital marketing industry since 2011. He has reported for Advertising Age, Adweek and Direct Marketing News. A born-and-raised Angeleno who graduated from New York University, he currently lives in Los Angeles. He has broken stories on Snapchat’s ad plans, Hulu founding CEO Jason Kilar’s attempt to take on YouTube and the assemblage of Amazon’s ad-tech stack; analyzed YouTube’s programming strategy, Facebook’s ad-tech ambitions and ad blocking’s rise; and documented digital video’s biggest annual event VidCon, BuzzFeed’s branded video production process and Snapchat Discover’s ad load six months after launch. He has also developed tools to monitor brands’ early adoption of live-streaming apps, compare Yahoo’s and Google’s search designs and examine the NFL’s YouTube and Facebook video strategies.