By Abdi Ali
Published June 29, 2022
Facebook Reels for iOS and Android is now available across sub-Saharan Africa.
“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,” says Nunu Ntshingila, Regional Director for sub-Saharan Africa at Meta, the holding company for Facebook. “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.”
Facebook Reels are available in Feed, Groups and Watch across more than 20 sub-Saharan African countries. When viewing a reel, you can follow the creator directly from the video, like and comment on it or share it with friends.
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Facebook says it is also creating a variety of opportunities for creators to earn money for their reels. The Reels Play bonus programme, part of Facebook’s US$1 Billion creator investment, the owners of Facebook say, pays eligible creators up to US$35 000 a month based on the views of their qualifying reels.
Meta, that owns Facebook, says it is also launching brand suitability controls, including Publisher Lists, Blocklists, Inventory Filters and Delivery Reports for Banner and Sticker Ads in Facebook Reels in every region they are available, giving advertisers more control over how their ads appear in places they don’t consider suitable for their brand or campaign. Just like with organic content on Facebook, people can comment, like, view, save, share and skip them.
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Meta says creators around the world can access the following features on Facebook:
- Remix: Create your own reel alongside an existing, publicly-shared reel on Facebook. When you create a Remix, you can create a reel that includes all or part of another creator’s reel
- 60-second Reels: Make reels up to 60 seconds long
- Drafts: You will soon be able to create a reel and choose to “Save As Draft” below the Save button
- Video Clipping: A video clipping tools that makes it easier for creators who publish live or long-form, recorded videos to test different formats, and Create and Discover Reels in New Places.
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