25+ Top Facebook Video Statistics For 2024

Facebook may be one of the world’s most popular social media platforms, but what about it’s video platform, Facebook video?

In this post, we’re breaking down the latest Facebook video statistics and facts so you can get a better understanding of this video marketing platform.

And for good measure, we’ve included statistics about Facebook Live, and some controversial Facebook video facts.

Editor’s picks

  • 1.25 billion people visit Facebook to watch videos every month. (The Evolution of Facebook Watch)
  • Vertical videos increase engagement rates to 0.44%. (Social Insider)
  • Facebook Live viewership jumped 50% during the pandemic. (Facebook 2020 Year in Review)

Facebook video usage statistics and facts

Facebook video is growing as far as usage goes. There are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic about its potential. Facebook is even working with other companies like Ray-Ban to bring new functionality to its video capabilities. 

And because the world still finds itself in the middle of a pandemic, people still rely on Facebook videos to connect with loved ones and discover new sources of entertainment.

In this section, you’ll find facts and figures about Facebook videos and how people incorporate them into their everyday lives.

Facebook is growing in terms of users and revenue.

In its Q2 2021 earnings presentation, Facebook revealed that it added 30 million more daily active users (DAU) from the previous quarter which puts its average DAU to 1.91 billion.

Facebook is growing in terms of users and revenue

While the company’s DAU has stalled in the United States and Europe, Facebook is continuing to add more users in the Asia Pacific region. 

Facebook also brought in $29 billion in this quarter which is a new record high for the company.

Source: FB Earnings Presentation (via Social Media Today)

1.25 billion people visit Facebook to watch videos every month.

There are 1.25 billion people who go to Facebook to find new videos that were published by other creators on the platform. Facebook made changes to its interface to make it easier for its users to navigate through all the available content.

Facebook also made strides in the way it curates videos and uses machine learning. It finds more ways to connect users with videos that they will find interesting.

Source: The Evolution of Facebook Watch

Facebook saw a 70% increase in Messenger group video calls.

During the pandemic, Facebook saw a 70% increase in Messenger group video calls. Also, people in Italy who were stuck at home were watching more Facebook and Instagram Live content than usual.

It’s also worth pointing out that the amount of time spent on group video calls has also doubled globally. 

Source: CNET

Facebook users can now capture videos and photos using Ray-Ban.

Facebook and Ray-Ban worked together to bring Ray-Ban Stories, a pair of smart glasses that is on sale now for $299. With these glasses, users can capture videos and photos which can then be edited using the companion camera roll app called Facebook View.

Facebook users can now capture videos and photos using Ray-Ban

From there, users can share these moments on Facebook or through any other app on their phones.

Social media platforms launching smart glasses aren’t new. Snapchat used the same approach with its Snapchat Spectacles. However, Ray-Ban Stories has a sleeker design and more closely resembles actual glasses which makes them less awkward to wear in public.

Source: The Verge

Vertical videos increase engagement rates to 0.44%.

Creating vertical videos with a description of 10 words or fewer will increase your engagement rates from 0.29% to 0.44%.

Vertical videos increase engagement rates to 0.44%

This is a big shift from 2020 where landscape videos were the most widely used format by brands. Depending on the size of the Facebook account, vertical videos can have an engagement rate between 0.20% all the way up to 1.77%.

Source: Social Insider

Facebook videos can help law enforcement agencies.

A student uploaded a video to Facebook of another student bringing a gun to school. This prompted law enforcement agencies to conduct an investigation. The video was brought to the attention of the police by a parent that saw the video on social media.

Fortunately, there was no imminent threat that was discovered and that the matter was reported and handled immediately.

Source: The Winchester Sun

Younger people pay less attention to video ads.

According to Facebook, age plays an important role in video ads. The younger the audience, the less they pay attention to advertising content. This is just as true for TV ads. 

For example, for people aged 18 to 24, attention on an ad is around 75% compared to those that are in the 65+ range. 

Facebook’s study also revealed that people have a low tolerance for long ads. The abandonment rate goes higher if a video ad goes longer than 15 seconds.

Source: Facebook for Business

Brands prefer to publish video content on Facebook.

More brands are now publishing content. Just before the pandemic hit, only 14.5% of businesses said that they don’t utilize video ads. That’s down by 25% from 2018 numbers. And based on a survey by Buffer, it appears that most businesses would publish at least once a month.

Brands prefer to publish video content on Facebook

Facebook is the most popular social media platform for businesses that want to publish content. 81% use Facebook compared to YouTube that only comes in at second place at 62%. Instagram comes in at third place (57%) while LinkedIn is fourth (32%).

However, it is worth pointing out that videos on LinkedIn get shared 20+ times more than any other content.

Source: Buffer

Note: If you want to make the process of sharing social media content easy, you’re going to need the right tools to help you. Check out our comparison of popular social media publishing tools to learn more.

46% use Facebook to watch videos.

46% of Facebook users are on the platform to watch videos. That’s the third most-cited reason.

46% use Facebook to watch videos

Other reasons include viewing photos (65%), sharing content with everyone (57%), and sharing content one-to-one (43%). Some use Facebook as a source of news while others use Facebook to find or shop for products and services.

Only 7% said that they use Facebook to promote their business.

Source: Statista

85% of marketers found Facebook an effective platform for video content.

Based on data taken from Wyzowl’s State of Video Marketing 2019, 84% of video marketers have used Facebook as a channel for promoting video content. And of those who use the platform, 85% said that they’ve had a successful run. This is actually down from 2018’s numbers (87%).

On a more positive note, 78% of marketers said that they would use Facebook video in 2019.

Source: Wyzowl State of Video Marketing 2019

Facebook video innovation facts and statistics

Facebook is doing whatever it can to innovate its video technology and user experience. If you’re curious and would like to know how Facebook is pivoting its video strategy, you’ll find this section interesting.

Here now are some facts and statistics about Facebook’s video innovations.

Facebook plans on bringing back video calls to the main app.

After having the video call feature on the standalone Messenger app, Facebook plans on bringing it back to the main Facebook app. There’s no word yet on what this move means for the Messenger app and its future.

Facebook says that it’s now testing voice and video calls in several countries including the United States. They are saying that users who need full-featured audio and video experience should still default to Messenger.

Source: The Verge

Facebook is experimenting with short-form videos.

As a response to TikTok, Facebook is introducing a new feature called Facebook Reels. These give users the ability to create and post short-form videos on their News Feed or within a Facebook Group.

Facebook is also testing a feature wherein Instagram creators in the United States will be able to have their Instagram Reels shown on Facebook as recommended content. This makes it possible to have both Instagram and Facebook Reels show up in a user’s News Feed.

Source: TechCrunch

Facebook is also competing with Zoom.

Facebook launched a feature called Messenger Rooms which aims to rival Zoom, a video conferencing platform. With Messenger Rooms, Facebook users could create a meeting room and invite up to 50 friends to join. People don’t have to be Facebook users to join.

Facebook has a chance of reaching a broader audience because the company’s messaging apps—Messenger and WhatsApp—have more than 700 million people making voice or video calls every day.

Source: NPR

Facebook introduced joint video viewing.

Facebook looked for ways for people to bond together while they’re on lockdown away from one another during the pandemic. Watch Together is a Facebook feature that lets its users watch a video simultaneously as long as that video is available on Facebook Watch. 

According to Facebook, it gets 150 million video calls on Messenger a day. It also added that 200 million videos are shared per day by its users. Watch Together seems to marry these two figures together to create a better experience for Facebook users.

Source: The Verge

Controversial Facebook video facts

While Facebook video has done wonders for the community, the company isn’t immune to backlash. There were several recent incidents where Facebook users had to call out some issues that needed to be addressed.

We should point out that in all instances, Facebook said that they’re working to resolve the issues that its users reported. We’ll have to take them at their word for now. Hopefully, these would all be resolved at the soonest possible time.

Facebook AI mislabeled videos of Black men as primates.

It appears that Facebook’s artificial intelligence still needs improvement. Facebook users who watched a video from The Daily Mail of Black men fighting with white police officers were surprised to see a prompt from Facebook asking if they would like to “keep seeing videos about Primates”.

Facebook issued an apology and added that they’ll investigate the matter to prevent this from happening again.

Source: USA Today

There are still 9/11 conspiracy videos on Facebook 20 years after.

While Mark Zuckerberg promised to do more to address the conspiracy theories floating on Facebook, there are still plenty of 9/11 conspiracy videos on the platform. This is quite disturbing considering it’s been 20 years since the tragic event.

A report published by the Simon Wiesenthal Center states that there are cases where conspiracy videos have been viewed tens of thousands of times. 

Source: Newsweek

Facebook and other video-sharing platforms earn from animal cruelty videos.

According to an Independent report, Facebook and other video-sharing platforms like YouTube and TikTok earn millions from the animal cruelty videos that people link to on these platforms. 

Animal welfare organizations in Asia saw 5,480 links to videos containing animal cruelty on the aforementioned platforms. These videos had about 5.3 billion views which only shows the extent of the problem.

Source: Independent

Facebook Live facts and statistics

Facebook Live is another important component of Facebook’s video offerings. It provides an alternative to all the readily available content that creators previously uploaded to the social media platform. 

Social media users who access Facebook are looking for new types of videos to watch and Facebook Live answered the call. 

In this section, we’ll show how important Facebook Live was especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Even marketers are beginning to see that Facebook Live is the future. They’re starting to include this medium in their online video marketing strategy.

Here now are some of the most recent Facebook Live statistics and facts.

Mark Zuckerberg went all-in on Facebook Live.

Facebook Live was so different from what the company’s competitors had to offer at the time of its release. That’s why Mark Zuckerberg wanted to push Facebook Live hard after its initial testing. 

From the dozen or so people who originally worked on Facebook Live, the team grew to more than 150 engineers almost overnight after Mark gave the green light to roll out the product to the general public. 

Source: Buzzfeed News

Facebook had to reduce video streaming quality during the pandemic.

With so many people working from home all of a sudden due to the pandemic, the internet started to get strained especially in Europe. That’s why Facebook joined other streaming platforms like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon in reducing their video streaming quality to compensate.

The move aimed to alleviate some of the stress and congestion caused by the uptick in internet usage. The move, however, is only meant to be temporary.

Source: CNBC

Facebook Live viewership jumped 50% during the pandemic.

According to Facebook, the number of viewers in the United States during the pandemic jumped by 50%. Users turned to Facebook to look for fitness classes and connect with artists. This is just one of the ways that people adapted during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Source: Facebook 2020 Year in Review

Facebook Live’s biggest day in 2020 was April 6.

The lockdowns caused by the pandemic meant that holidays had to be celebrated virtually. That’s why Facebook users turned to Facebook Live come April 6, 2020. That week covered Easter and Passover. 

That week was big for group video calls with spiritual Facebook pages streaming their services and programs live to their community.

Source: Facebook 2020 Year in Review

Live video usage increased in 2021.

According to Social Insider, Facebook users are using Live now more than ever. Compared to 2020, Live video usage increased by 3%. In 2020, 12% of people on Facebook used Live. But in 2021, that figure jumped to 15%.

Live video usage increased in 2021

Source: Social Insider

35% of video marketers had used Facebook Live.

35% of surveyed video marketers said that they have used Facebook Live as a marketing channel in 2019. This is up by 34% from the year before. However, only 74% said that Facebook Live has been effective for them. This is down from the previous year’s 81%.

Only 36% of marketers said that they plan on using Facebook Live throughout 2019.

Source: Wyzowl State of Video Marketing 2019

Facebook video statistics sources

Conclusion

While Facebook’s video platform isn’t perfect, there’s definitely a need for it, especially in today’s climate. Not only is it a way to share creative ideas and get discovered, but it’s also a way to stay connected with the people that we love.

It’s also great for marketers who are looking to expand their reach and find a new audience. As some of the Facebook statistics prove, the Facebook video space is still growing. And businesses are starting to see the benefits of investing in video content on Facebook. 

So if you have a Facebook page, should you start uploading videos?

We’d have to say yes. Facebook video marketing still has a ton of potential. And if you want your video engagement numbers to go up, you’ll have to take some time to come up with high-quality videos that your audience would love to share with their followers.

Related Reading: