After testing in late 2020, streaming giant Netflix has officially launched a new short-form video feature called Fast Laughs.
Fast Laughs provides Netflix mobile app users with small comedy clips from the service’s vast content library.
“Fast Laughs offers a full-screen feed of funny clips from our big comedy catalogue including films, series, sitcoms, and stand-up from comedians like Kevin Hart and Ali Wong,” Netflix stated.
At launch, it will include clips from Murder Mystery, Big Mouth, The Crew, and stand-up sets from Kevin Hart and Ali Wong.
Users can access the Fast Laughs feed through the bottom navigation menu on the app by clicking on the “Fast Laughs” tab next to “Coming Soon”.
The clips will start playing, and automatically jump from one to the next, similar to how Facebook’s video feed works.
Fast Laughs also lets users add series, films, and stand-up specials to their watchlist, or start viewing them immediately.
Additionally, they are able to share the clips individually on WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. Users can react to the clips with a laughing emoji in the button panel.
Fast Laughs is currently available for iOS users on iPhone in select countries, with testing on Android to begin soon.
Borrowing from social media
The feature appears to be an attempt by Netflix to leverage the popularity of short videos such as those on social media platform TikTok.
Fast Laughs borrows a lot from the TikTok format, including its full-screen view, vertical orientation, and buttons placed on the right side of the screen.
When Netflix initially tested the feature, clips varied between 15 to 45 seconds, although now there is no defined limit for the snippets.
Netflix stated that Fast Laughs will not be available on profiles for kids, as much of the content will be rated for mature audiences.
Source: Mybroadband
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