Yesterday, Facebook unveiled a handful of new feature and updates to Facebook Profiles. One update that stands out the most is a new mobile-friendly feature that replace the iconic Facebook profile picture in exchange for a looping video clip that will play every time someone visits your profile. The new profile video will allow users to interact with friends who visit their profiles in ways that a profile picture cannot.
Facebook’s profile pictures are not being replaced entirely by the new profile videos. Profile pictures are also going through a few updates too, such as the ability to add temporary profile pictures with included filters to be displayed on your profile for short periods of time. This feature is meant to allow users’ to commemorate or share special events in their lives on their profiles for only a few days.
Facebook has made it clear that users are not able to upload .gifs as their profile video but instead actual video clips; although the experience of using a profile video is reported to be very similar.
These new updates to the Facebook user experience are all very mobile-friendly focused, as Facebook understands the need for users to consume information via mobile devices. However, all of these changes to Facebook are too, mimicked in their desktop counterpart.
The updates to the Facebook user interface have only been released to iPhone users in some parts of the U.K. and California with a global update to be rolled out shortly.