Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms for sharing photos, videos, and other multimedia content. With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook offers individuals and businesses a powerful way to connect with a large audience.
One of the key metrics that content creators care about on Facebook is video views. The number of views a video gets is a measure of how many times it was watched. This data point allows creators to track the performance and reach of their video content.
A common question that often comes up is whether rewatching the same Facebook video multiple times counts as additional views. If you play a video again after already viewing it, does that second watch get counted as a new view? Or does Facebook only count the first playback?
How Facebook Counts Video Views
When a video is watched on Facebook, it registers as a view. Facebook’s system is designed to count the number of unique views for a video.
So if five people watch a specific video, it will have five views. However, Facebook does not count multiple plays from the same user as separate views. If one person watches the video five times, it will still only show five views total.
Here is a breakdown of how Facebook counts video views:
- The first time a user watches a video counts as 1 view
- Subsequent rewatches from the same user do not count as additional views
- Each time a unique user watches the video, it counts as 1 new view
- The view count shows the total number of different people who have watched the video
In summary, rewatching a Facebook video does not add to the view count. Only distinct users viewing the content for the first time are tallied in the view metrics.
Why Facebook Counts Views This Way
Facebook’s reason for only counting unique viewers rather than total plays relates to providing meaningful metrics to content creators.
Counting rewatches as views would inflate statistics and not accurately reflect how many people are consuming the content. Facebook’s aim is to give creators a realistic look at how many different users have seen a video post.
There are a few key advantages to this video view methodology:
- Prevents misleading view numbers that seem higher than they should be
- Gives creators a clear picture of true reach and viewership
- Allows better comparison of video performance across different posts
- Avoids penalizing shorter videos that are less likely to be rewatched
While it may seem counterintuitive not to count every playback as a view, Facebook’s approach provides a more authentic measure of video engagement. The unique user metric levels the playing field and offers valuable insights to guide content strategy.
Other Social Platforms’ Video View Policies
Most major social platforms take a similar approach to Facebook in only counting distinct viewers within their video view metrics. However, policies vary slightly across different sites.
YouTube
YouTube does tally total plays, not just unique plays. So rewatching a YouTube video will increment the view counter each time. However, it uses advanced technology to filter out artificial views from bots, fraudulent plays, and other invalid activity that shouldn’t count as real views.
Instagram adopted a Facebook-like policy in 2016 to only count unique users, excluding repeat views of the same video. But it recently reverted back to counting all views, not just distinct views.
Twitter’s video views only measure the number of unique viewers. Someone rewatching a video does not result in additional views being added to the count.
TikTok
TikTok also sticks to a unique viewer policy. Multiple plays from the same user do not get aggregated into the overall view tally displayed on videos.
Here is a summary table comparing policies across platforms:
| Platform | Unique Views Only? |
|---|---|
| Yes | |
| YouTube | No |
| No | |
| Yes | |
| TikTok | Yes |
How to Check If Rewatching Counts as a View
If you want to test whether rewatching a Facebook video registers additional views, there are a couple of ways to confirm:
Use Separate Accounts
Post a test video from your Facebook page or personal account. Watch the video while signed into your account, then rewatch it. You’ll notice the view count does not increase on subsequent plays.
For further proof, try viewing the video from another account you have access to. When signed into a different account, watch the video again. This time the view count should increment by 1.
View Insights Data
Facebook offers content creators detailed analytics for their videos. In the Facebook Insights section for your page or videos, you can view metrics on total views as well as unique views.
Compare the regular views tally against the unique views data. If rewatching counted as views, these numbers would be substantially different. But you will likely see little discrepancy between the two measurements.
You can also break down the viewership demographics to see that distinct individuals are being counted, ruling out multiple plays by the same people inflating numbers.
Does Buying Ads Impact View Counts?
With Facebook’s video view policy clarified, a follow-up question is whether buying ads for videos affects the view metrics at all.
The short answer is no. Purchasing Facebook ad campaigns to promote your videos does not alter view tallies artificially.
Running video ads allows content to reach larger audiences. But any views generated through ads are subject to the same criteria of counting unique viewers.
Facebook’s advertising platform does provide useful analytics on video ads themselves. You can see metrics like ad reach, frequency, impressions, clicks, and more.
But these metrics are separate from the native video view counts. Buying video ads may help increase natural engagement, but it does not inflate video view numbers on Facebook artificially.
Best Practices for Getting More Video Views
While rewatching videos does not drive up view counts, here are some tips to help your video content organically reach more unique viewers on Facebook:
- Optimize videos for discovery – use compelling thumbnails, titles, and descriptions
- Understand your audience – create content tailored to their interests
- Share natively on Facebook – upload videos directly rather than linking out
- Publish consistently – stay top of mind with a regular cadence
- Promote across channels – share videos on other social platforms too
- Run ads – use Facebook’s targeting to find relevant audiences
- Analyze performance – see which videos resonate best with viewers
Driving more authentic and engaged video views requires understanding the platform’s algorithm, creating quality content, and leveraging promotional tools effectively.
Conclusion
Facebook counts video views based on unique viewership. A single user repeatedly watching a video does not register as multiple views. This approach provides content creators with transparent metrics to measure true reach and engagement.
While rewatching does not increase counts, focus on distributing videos more widely across real audiences. Facebook offers powerful analytics to gain insights and improve video performance.
Authentic view growth takes effort, but pays dividends through expanded audience, visibility, and credibility. Approach Facebook video strategy with both creativity and analytical rigor to see satisfying results.
Does this help explain how Facebook counts video views, as well as tactics to increase legitimate viewership? Let me know if you have any other questions!