Soon, your Facebook profile picture could have a life of its own. On Wednesday, the social media site announced it would enable a new mobile-friendly feature that allows users to set seven-second clips as their profile image.
Reminiscent of images coming to life in the universe of Harry Potter, the mobile profile videos will only loop when someone actually is viewing the user’s profile. Your clip can also include audio, but it will only be heard when someone plays it in full-view mode. The resulting profile image will work something akin to the gif below:
Since its founding, Facebook has been a proponent of true human interaction on the internet. The company believes it can achieve greater success if its users actually engage as real people do. It would make sense then, to make profiles as personal and “true” to the user himself. Facebook’s recent statement reflects this fact:
Profile pictures are not just static portraits. They represent what’s going in your life right now and what’s important to you, and we want to give people the tools to better express themselves in this way.
How exactly can we express ourselves now? The ability to change profile picture to short looping uploads is only a start. Facebook promises that soon we will be able to set specified temporary profile pictures for particular life events that will automatically revert to the original picture once the specified time completes.
There are more subtle changes as well. Facebook will move all profile pictures on the mobile app to appear in the center of the screen, making the user the center of attention. In addition, the company will allows users to curate more carefully what appears automatically on their profiles. This allows people to showcase themselves as they want other users to see them.
Facebook believes these visual changes will greatly personalize interaction on its site. This belief embodies a company devoted to satisfying its customers’ expectations. As Facebook has shown time and time again, the only way to maintain a devoted fanbase is to present your ideas in the way your followers would like to see them.
Want to change your mobile profile picture to a looping clip? Click here to find out how!
See Facebook’s Newsroom for more information.