Facebook Video Feature: Create or Upload Video to Your Community

Facebook is a great way to share information with your community. Most of us use it regularly to provide quick updates about what we’re doing, where we’re going, or a news story that interests us. Most of us also regularly upload pictures to share with our communities. You know what I’ve noticed, though? Not many people are using Facebook’s video features. I’m not sure if that’s because not many people use video (really? I find that hard to believe–where are the vloggers?) or people just don’t know how (which I think is more likely). If the lack of video stems from the former reason, I can’t help; if it stems from the latter, read on! I’m going to explain how you can upload video to your Facebook account or create a completely new video on the fly on your Facebook profile.

Upload video from your computer

1. Go to your Facebook profile. On your wall is the text box where you usually update your status. Below that box is the word Attach with a line of icons next to it.
2. Click the icon that looks like a video camera. You’ll see two choices: Record a video and Upload a video.
3. Click Upload a video.
4. Click Browse, find your video on your hard drive, and upload it to your profile.

Record a new video on your Facebook profile

1. Go to your Facebook profile. On your wall is the text box where you usually update your status. Below that box is the word Attach with a line of icons next to it.
2. Click the icon that looks like a video camera. You’ll see two choices: Record a video and Upload a video.
3. Click the Record a video. You’ll see a box asking if Facebook has your permission to access your computer’s camera and microphone. If the answer is yes, click the radio button (the circle) next to Allow.
4. Click the “Close” button in that box. You’ll see a picture of yourself in that box. Position your screen in a way that centers you in the box.
5. Click the red button with the dot in the middle to start recording. To stop recording, click the button again (it’s a square now).
6. You’ll have the option to play the video, save the video, or reset the video. To see how the video came out, push the play button (the triangle). If you’re happy with it, click Save. If you want a do-over, click Reset and re-record your video.

Once you’ve saved your video you will have the opportunity to tag people in the video, give the video a title and description, and choose the thumbnail that will accompany the video (these are stills from the video).

Finally, you have the option to Save (publish to the group), Delete (delete the video permanently), or Skip for now (which means you want to publish the video, but haven’t actually given it a title, description, or chosen a thumbnail).

Once you get over the initial horror of seeing and hearing yourself on video, it’s actually quite fun to make a daily Facebook vlog and share a moment or two of you with your community. Why not give it a try? It couldn’t be easier.

Before you go, leave me a comment about whether you use Facebook’s video feature or not. If you’re one of the many who don’t, why not? Is it because it never occurred to you? Or because you don’t want to see yourself up there? Or because you weren’t sure how? Now that you know how easy it is, will you try it? How do you see the video helping you promote your brand? Thanks for reading; I can’t wait to hear what you have to say.

A version of this article was cross-posted at BlogHer.com.