Facebook Inserts Panoramic 360-Degree Photos Straight Into Your News Feed

You’ll be able to identify 360-degree photos in your News Feed by a compass icon that is overlaid on the right side of the image. When viewed on a desktop, the 360-degree photos can be manipulated by clicking and holding on it, which will allow you to “drag” the image to see it from different viewpoints. On a smartphone, simply tilting your device will achieve the same result. If you prefer, you can also tap and drag on the image with a smartphone to navigate the environment.

If you’re using a Samsung Gear VR-compatible smartphone, you’ll be greeted with a “View in VR” button that will prompt you to hook your phone up to a Gear VR to see the image in virtual reality.

While many would be happy just seeing 360-degree photos from friends and family, Facebook has also revealed that you’ll be able to view 360-photos from a Paul McCartney concert, and even “visit” the International Space Station courtesy of NASA footage.

This is just the latest effort to get users to interact more with Facebook and cling to the site for longer periods of time. As we relayed yesterday, most major social media networks have seen a pretty steep drop-off in interaction from its users in the past year, and features like 360-degree photos allows platforms like Facebook to become more “sticky”.