Meta Tweaks Facebook App to Act More Like TikTok

By Brad Pareso 

For most of Facebook’s history, its executives have executed a tried-and-true playbook: Mimic the success of others. On Thursday, the company, which has been renamed Meta, continued that tactic with a revamp of its main Facebook app that will change how users browse the service—and make it act a bit more like one of its largest competitors. (NYT)

It announced two feeds that will now be found in its iOS and Android apps. Home is the new name for the tab you see when you first open the app and is designed for algorithm-based discovery with Reels, Stories and other personalized content. Then there’s an entirely new Feeds tab, which contains recent posts from friends, groups, Facebook Pages and favorites, with no “Suggested For You” posts in sight. (The Verge)

The new option is designed to address complaints from users, who believe they have been missing interesting posts because Facebook’s algorithm omitted them from their feeds. “One of the most requested features for Facebook is to make sure people don’t miss friends’ posts,” Facebook founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in the announcement. (AP)

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The new Feeds tab is a return to Facebook’s basic social media experience, where your feed is mainly focused on activity and posts from your friends and groups. However, the revamped Home feed shows Meta’s continued desire to chase TikTok, which is its current biggest threat. (TechCrunch)

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