If you’re sharing Youtube or Vimeo links on Facebook, you may not be getting the kind of engagement you expected. In fact, a recent study found that “native” Facebook videos receive up to 10X the number of interactions that Youtube videos receive. If you’re wondering what a “native” Facebook video is, it’s when you literally upload your video file from your computer to Facebook (sharing a link does not count!).
One reason for the difference in engagement is that Youtube links do not autoplay. They actually open up in a new window and play from Youtube. Native videos begin playing automatically in your friend’s Facebook feeds whether they like it or not. Another reason is Facebook’s algorithm is [probably] designed to favor Facebook videos over Youtube videos. It’s top-secret and nobody actually knows, but if you look at the stats, native videos seem to dominate engagement.
