Facebook is about to roll out one of its major user interface updates in years and it is pretty similar to TikTok.
The company app head, Tom Alison, announced that the company will soon start rolling out a “reimagined experience. Some users will be taken directly to a full-screen, vertical stream of videos when they open the app rather than a scroll of posts from friends and pages. Users will be immediately dropped into the full-screen, vertical video stream when opening the app, as opposed to the typical scroll of posts from friends and pages.
Affected users will instead be greeted with a stream of videos recommended by Facebook updates. The opening routine is practically the same as that of TikTok.
No mockups or exact details of the interface have been given by Meta. What it has established is that testing will start later this year, and will start in countries where video consumption is already more prevalent in user behaviour.
It is planned to launch into the U.S. market at an undetermined time in 2027, based on the results of the initial tests. Meta claims they will reconsider their expansion based on user feedback and engagement metrics.
The classic experience won’t be lost for those who do not want to lose it. All users who enter the new video-first experience will be able to choose to leave whenever they want, and a classic “Classic Feed” can be accessed separately on the navigation tab in the app.
Meta made its own announcement about the change in the terms of user behavior. People are demanding more video-driven interactions, communities are developing and even business is beginning to transact, the company said, adding: video is where conversations are taking place.
It is not the first time that Meta has copied from another competitor strategy. It debuted Instagram Stories in 2016, the same year Snapchat introduced disappearing content, and then launched Instagram Reels to be direct rivals of TikTok short-form format.
It would not create a new tab or feature, but rather modify the very first thing that anyone will see when they open Facebook home screen, which is arguably the most valuable real estate in the app.
The transition is a real risk an opportunity. Facebook is still a place where people go to let their friends, family and community groups and groups know what is going on in their lives – not to watch entertainment recommended by the algorithm.
Other industry analysts have also been skeptical as to how much emphasis Meta is putting into this redesign to distinguish it from the platform in response? The algorithm-driven feed is video-first, and looks like TikTok feed, feature-by-feature.
The redesign is not going alone. Meta also revealed the addition of Facebook Verified, a free verification badge that it has added to its platform for users who would complete its video selfie verification process and satisfy its trust criteria, apart from its paid-for Meta Verified subscription.
Meta is introducing a new standalone app called Seller, which will be targeted at users who make a heavy business out of selling on Facebook Marketplace and will make it feel more like TikTok Shop.
It is a version of this that Meta has tried in the past. The Instagram app will launch into a full-screen Reels feed for certain users in India last year, as the company conducted a similar trial there.
The change has a negative effect on content creators. A full-screen algorithmic feed is more likely to be discovery-oriented than based on existing followers, which can be a huge advantage for creators who may not have a significant Facebook following.
Meanwhile, it compels creators to become more reliant on the recommender system rather than on a direct audience, and to create the same type of videos everywhere, namely those that are vertical. It remains to be seen whether the redesign is a success or not, but one question Meta has yet to fully answer is whether users truly want more video on their Facebook feeds in fullscreen or if they are getting that experience elsewhere.
