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Facebook Ranked Third Most Popular Video Site

When you think of watching a video online, you most likely think of YouTube. And why wouldn’t you, considering the multitude of videos to be found on that site.

In fact, there are so many videos on YouTube, some say that  it would take over 600 years watch all the videos on the site today– and that’s without a bathroom break.  Hulu also might come to mind.  Launched in 2008, Hulu offers viewers over 10,000 hours of content from several American television networks, including NBC, ABC, and FOX along with several cable networks.

But what about Facebook?  Facebook for video!? According to some recent results from Nielsen, Facebook has rapidly climbed the charts by assuming the No. 3 spot for an online video website.  The popular social-networking site had streamed a total of 217.7 million views in the month of October.  That’s nearly double the total from September, when Facebook had just reached the top 10 mark with 110 million views. 

It’s interesting to observe that while Facebook has some work to do before it takes over the No. 2 spot currently occupied by Hulu, the number of unique viewers on Facebook is close to two and a half times greater than that of Hulu.  Newteevee.com says this actually isn’t shocking because of “the nature of short, personal video sharing that goes on Facebook versus the longer-form viewing that happens on Hulu.”

So, should YouTube and Hulu be watching their backs?  They probably have nothing to worry about for now, but Facebook could be taking advantage and eventually take a top spot.  A deal between NBC and Facebook made a significant impact earlier this year, when NBC’s “Community” series premiere was shown exclusively to Facebook users before the actual premiere, which was a disappointment to Hulu fans who were hoping for the first glimpse.