Facebook is testing a new way to highlight shared news feed posts using animations that appear in the post while users scroll. As shown in a video by social media expert Matt Navarra, with this new process, when you want to share a post on Facebook in the news feed, you have the option to add a colorful animation or background to your updated share. There is a variety of different animations and backgrounds to choose from. Once you have added your chosen animation, it is then displayed to other users as they scroll through your update in their feed.
The feature appears to be in limited testing, and you can see in the video that when available, a new notification "Share your reaction on a post" appears at the bottom of the main image. This resembles the story-style reply option for regular news feed posts, adding another element to the process to help increase engagement and make posts stand out. However, if everyone starts using it, it might be somewhat confusing to have all these smiling face emojis and animations showing up while scrolling.
Consequently, Facebook gains data on the sharing rates of posts, knowing that shared posts contribute only a little to the overall feed activity for most people. Thus, the risks in this sense are likely low. Nonetheless, any public additions run the risk of becoming obsolete quickly once every other user adopts them. For brands, this option could also provide a way to help promote your initiatives through user-generated content (UGC). By collaborating with the right people, you can encourage them to reshare your latest updates with their followers, attaching these new animations that could help attract more attention to your initiatives.
