Dive Brief:

• Facebook announced in a blog post that it is giving content creators new tools to make their videos more interactive, including polling for Facebook Live and on-demand video and gamification for Facebook Live. This gives creators the ability to add polls, quizzes, challenges and more to their videos.
• The features can be used for an individual video or to create a standalone game show, per a post on Facebook's Media blog. Facebook announced several game shows that are collaborative efforts with publishers and which will debut on the platform in the next few weeks, including "Confetti" by Insider, "Outside Your Bubble" by BuzzFeed News and "What's in the Box" by Fresno. Facebook is allowing creators to bring videos from Pages into Watch, and is testing a new video template that creators and publishers can use on their Facebook Page.
• Facebook is also officially launching the Brand Collabs Manager after a testing period. The platform first confirmed it was working on the tool, which lets creators connect with marketers for possible branded content collaborations, back in May. Facebook will additionally open its Ad Breaks program to more creators and expand fan subscriptions. 

Dive Insight:

Giving creators the tools to make their videos more interactive could advance Facebook’s mission to build engaged communities and focus on content that is actively, rather than passively, consumed. The news also shows how the social network is doubling down on its efforts to attract more content creators — really just another term for influencers — by allowing them to make their videos interactive and agile in the ability to switch between different Facebook tabs, such as Pages and Watch. 

The focus on content types like game shows underpin how Facebook is trying to ride on the popularity of community-based gaming apps like HQ Trivia, which have quickly pulled in massive audiences and attracted the interest of advertisers. These efforts, collectively, could help Facebook win back younger users that have been leaving the platform in favor of Snapchat and Instagram, the latter of which Facebook owns. 

As noted by The Verge, some of Facebook's new video features also closely resemble what's available in YouTube's Community tab. YouTube, which is owned by Google, added polling and other collaborative features in November.

Facebook video initiatives like Watch are widely seen as its bid to better compete with YouTube, and the platform has recently ramped up efforts to court content creators away from its rival. Many YouTube creators have found it increasingly difficult to monetize their content following tougher ad eligibility requirements Google has introduced in reaction to advertisers' calls for more brand safety measures.