Facebook Live's latest feature will let you fast-forward to the best parts

Facebook is implementing a system that will present you the most interesting parts of a video on the timeline itself. The feature is rolling out to in batches to users, and is primarily designed with live video in mind.

Live video lets users “react” at any point in a stream. They can react via emojis, text and more and the timeline graph of a live video will show these spikes. When users view the videos later on, they can just skip the “boring” bits and get straight to the action in nothing flat.

Facebook says that the system is being put in place to get users to watch videos that they would have otherwise skipped over. Suppose a video was really drab for the first few minutes, you wouldn’t really want to watch the rest now, would you?

We can see how the idea might be useful, particularly in long videos. Fast-forwarding to the good parts is certainly great on paper, but we’re certain that our already limited attention spans will plunge into the millisecond range as we seek instant gratification from the very best parts of videos. We’re already hoping that the feature remains an optional one and something that’s left in the hands of the creator to implement.

Imagine the fate of a TV show or movie? We’ll probably just end up watching the very best scenes with little regard for context or story and that’s a future we’d rather not have. But maybe it’s inevitable.

The feature isn’t mainstream just yet, so there is still hope for humanity!