Meta plans to redesign the news feed of its social network Facebook in order to compete with TikTok. At least that’s what the American media reveals. The Verge by publishing an internal press release on June 15. The report details Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitions for Facebook’s future News Feed. This would be based on a new algorithm: the “discovery engine”.
Rethinking Facebook’s News Feed
In June 2020, the company integrated the Reels into Instagram, before adding them to Facebook last February. This format, taken directly from TikTok, has become a strategic priority for Meta, which wants to make it a central element. The tech giant has already refocused Instagram’s algorithm around Reels by filling the app’s main feed with short videos from accounts users don’t follow.
Layoffs, teleworking… Elon Musk responds to Twitter employees
It is this direction that Mark Zuckerberg wishes to follow with Facebook. According to the internal document revealed by The Verge, the main page of the social network should be completely reworked. At the top of the screen will be a mix between Stories and Reels. They will be followed by publications recommended by the new “discovery engine” algorithm. This will work like the “For You” algorithm of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, by offering content posted by unknown users on Instagram and Facebook.
For Meta executive Tom Alison, head of Facebook, the new priority is no longer to display posts from accounts that users follow, but rather to recommend more posts regardless of their origin.
To facilitate sharing, the Californian company also plans to relocate its Messenger messaging application within the social network. As a reminder, Facebook and Messenger were separated in 2014 by Mark Zuckerberg in order to make exchanges faster.
Tom Alison explains to The Verge that ” what we’re seeing is that people want to connect with other people through content. And so a big part of the direction we’re taking with Facebook is to try to bring you the content that will best meet your interests, but also make it easier to share, chat, and connect with other people among your network “.
Attract the youngest
The objective is clearly to focus the experience of Facebook users around the video. This is a format that is a hit with its competitor TikTok: between its launch and the summer of 2021, the application was installed more than 3.6 billion times. It recorded 20% more downloads than Facebook last year.
If the social network of Meta is not to be outdone with 2.94 billion active users each month, the problem lies above all in the aging of its population. Facebook is struggling to attract younger people who are turning to Instagram instead. With this restructuring, Meta hopes to conquer this age group deserting a social network that they consider too archaic.
Facebook employees ask questions
These future changes raise questions from Meta employees for the future of Facebook. An employee shared his fears in response to the document shared internally by Tom Alison. ” I think there is a real risk, in this approach, of losing sight of what differentiates us from other social networks in favor of the pursuit of trends and short-term interests. “, he alarms.
The restructuring of Facebook hopes to revive the social network which is facing some complications. Meta reported, in the last quarter of 2021, its first loss of active users since its inception, dropping from 1.93 billion daily users to 1.929.
A ridiculous drop, of course, but which adds to Facebook’s other difficulties. The social network has recently experienced a big drop in its investments coupled with a loss of advertising revenue. Shares of Meta fell 26% in the stock market on the announcement of its 2021 financial results.