Would you watch a film on Facebook?

I’ll be honest. I have my reservations about Facebook. For businesses I think it can be a great way of connecting with customers though Facebook pages, but for those of us with a personal profile I do have concerns about its frequently changing privacy settings. So while I use the site regularly, I do so with some caution.

The news that you can now watch films on Facebook did leave me wondering if this was really something I’d be comfortable doing. After all, I didn’t want every scene of the film to be posted on my Facebook wall, or the walls of my Facebook friends, and I’ve known some Facebook apps to take on a life of their own at times.

So I tested out Universal Picture’s Social Cinema app, which now lets you watch films instantly on Facebook, slightly unsure what I was letting myself in for. It turned out to be surprising good. A payment of 30 credits allows you access to films for 48 hours. That’s a cost of about £2 per film, although I watched Johnny English which you can buy in the shops and keep forever for just £3. You can also offer your Facebook friends a 10 credit discount, the idea being that film watching becomes a social event and you comment on the film, via Facebook, as it happens.

I found the app easy to use and I particularly liked fact that the film is available to watch immediately after purchase. What I’m not a fan of though is commenting through films, which defeats the purpose of watching films via a social cinema app somewhat. Although a great idea for many, and certainly very social, I’ve had to make a constant effort recently not to tweet and Facebook during programmes as I find it takes away the enjoyment rather than adding to it, although my Twitter stream during many Saturday night TV shows tells me that I’m in the minority here.

My concerns that watching a film on Facebook would result in endless comments being posted to my Facebook wall proved unfounded, and my assumption that I’d be repeated asked to recommend the film or the Social Cinema App to friends didn’t happen either. The option to recommend to friends appeared only the once.

All in all, I thought the film was great and I did like the idea of the app and its ease of use. I watched in in full screen mode, which meant I forgot I was on Facebook, but I’m guessing the idea is that you actually make use of Facebook’s comment system and engage with others also watching the film.

So I would recommend the Social Cinema App. The only issue I have now is that the only film available remains Johnny English and I’d now like to watch something else. Now that the app is up and running, they really do need to expand the choice of films. Despite my initial reservations, I would certainly watch them.

Full disclosure: I received some free Facebook credits to purchase this film.