In a conference call today to discuss the company's latest earnings, Facebook cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined the current state of the company along with COO Sheryl Sandberg and CFO David Wehner. While they emphasized video's growing role on Facebook, and how video sharing is up in News Feed, Zuckerberg is already looking to the future. And that future includes virtual reality.
“There’s this continued progression of people getting richer and richer ways to share what’s on their mind,” Zuckerberg says. “So if you go back ten years, most of how people communicated was through text. We’re going through a period where now it’s mostly visual and photos. We’re entering into a period where that’s increasingly going to be video—and we’re seeing huge growth there. But that’s not the end of the line.”
“There’s always a richer way that people want to share and consume thoughts and ideas," he added. "And I think immersive 3D content is the obvious next thing after video." Facebook acquired the virtual reality startup Oculus last year, and its product, the Oculus Rift, is expected to go on sale beginning early next year.
For now though, video remains central on News Feed for both users, who spend around 46 minutes a day on the company's products (not including WhatsApp), and advertisers, who like to reach users with targeted videos. "Our video demand is very deep," Sandberg says. "People love video." And while those clips may keep people sticking around now—one day, they may be sharing VR.
