How to take 360-degree photos and share them to your Facebook News Feed

Early in May, we heard that Facebook would be introducing 360-degree photos to your News Feeds. 360-degree anything is growing in popularity with the release of the Samsung Gear 360 and the LG 360 Cam, but where are you supposed to share those pictures and videos? Facebook thinks its the answer and is making it easy to share everything.

The company announced earlier today that it would be rolling out this functionality to everyone today via either the Web or the Facebook mobile app. In order to differentiate these pictures from the rest, Facebook has added a small compass icon. Once selected, you will be able to drag the photo around and view the awesome image or video.

The first partners with Facebook to show off the capabilities of these 360-degree photos are Paul McCartney, The New York Times, and NASA.

Along with 360 photos from your friends and family, you can discover stunning new 360 photos on Facebook from public figures, publishers, and other organizations. 360 photos give you the ability to take the stage in front of 100,000 fans with Paul McCartney, get behind-the-scenes access to the Supreme Court via The New York Times, visit the International Space Station with NASA, and more. This medium enables new opportunities for creativity, and we’re excited to see what kinds of 360 photos get shared on Facebook.

Additionally, Facebook has provided instructions on how to create and share your own 360-degree photos to the social media service:

How Do I Take 360 Photos?

• Take a panorama on your iOS device or Samsung Galaxy phone or capture a 360-degree photo using a 360 photo app or 360 camera.
• Open the Facebook app and share the photo as you would any other photo: tap the status tool from the top of your Timeline or News Feed, select Photo/Video, choose the photo you want to share, and tap Post.
• Once your photo is posted, look around in your photo — or any other 360 photo in News Feed that’s marked with the compass icon — by moving your phone or dragging with your finger. Tap on the photo to view it in full screen.
• On Samsung Gear VR-compatible phones, you’ll see a button in the top left corner of your photo that says “View in VR.” If you tap on that button and insert your phone into your Gear VR headset, you can see your 360 photo in virtual reality.

Facebook has also created a community to allow for conversations regarding 360-degree and Virtual Reality content. There is also a Facebook 360 webpage that users can visit to see some of the best creations from other users. These two places will also serve as sources on how to create 360-degree content.

Is this something you see yourself taking advantage of? Personally, I’m hoping to see more and more 360-degree content in my Facebook feeds, compared to the boring old vertical photos that everyone seems to post.

Download on Google Play: Facebook

[via Facebook]