After the big redesign of its main brand to become Meta, it seems that now Facebook’s own social network is preparing to make a major changewith which, as the company’s directors have declared, they will try to compete with the current popularity of TikTok.
According to a document from a Facebook executive published by The Verge, the social network is currently working on a major redesign of the main Facebook font that would heavily emphasize recommended content from pages, creators, and people you don’t already follow. The goal is to turn Facebook into a “Discovery Engine,” which would rely heavily on recommendations, similar to TikTok’s “For You” feed.
Recommendations would mostly come from “offline” content, including Reels, and users would see fewer posts from friends and family in their feeds. The plan would also bring Messenger’s inbox back to the Facebook app in an effort to encourage users to share more content from said “Discovery Engine.”
However, there are still some questions about whether or not this latest change might be the best course of action for the company. And it is that previously the current recommendation algorithms have already been blamed for having promoted some articles and advertisements that promoted disinformation, a deficiency that is already beginning to affect other platforms.
Which is why Tom Alison, director of the application, claimed that after this change they will implement stricter rules for recommended contentstating that the company is changing the way it views its obligation to reduce “negative experiences.”
It is unclear how long it will take for Meta to implement these changes, although it is true that some of them can already be found today on Instagramso they would already have part of the work done.
