Summary
- Facebook’s popularity has declined due to factors like novelty fatigue, a younger audience preferring other platforms, and concerns about misinformation.
- To regain user interest, Facebook is introducing friend-centric features, starting with a revamped “Friends” tab that focuses solely on content from your connections.
- The updated Friends tab, now rolling out in the US and Canada, consolidates friends’ stories, posts, birthdays, and requests, and users can pin it for easy access, with more “OG” experiences planned.
Meta’s
Facebook
is one of the oldest social media platforms out there, flanked primarily by the likes of MySpace and Orkut.
Launched in 2004, the social media platform peaked, at least in terms of popularity, in the mid 2010s. Facebook’s appeal has since dropped, with a few main reasons to blame. These include novelty fatigue, lack of appeal for the younger generation (which leads to an aging user base), concerns about misinformation and (reported) biased fact-checking, the rise of other social media platforms that prioritize short-form content for quick dopamine hits, and more.
Meta to start testing X-like Community Notes on its platforms next week
X marks the spot for Meta’s Community Notes
The social media platform, however, has already begun taking steps to regain its lost charm. For reference, in the US, the platform has already begun transitioning to an X (Twitter)-like Community Notes system — which tackles one of the concerns mentioned above. Now, likely in a bid to re-engage its existing users and potentially attract new ones, the social media platform is focusing on “bringing the magic of Friends back to Facebook.”
The tech giant plans to introduce several friend-centric experiences to Facebook this year, starting with an updated Friends tab, which is available now.
Always know what your Facebook friends are up to
Previously, the Facebook Friends tab merely served as a directory of friend requests and potential connections that you may know. Now, it has transformed into a dedicated tab that only spotlights content from your Facebook friends. The tab highlights your friends’ stories, reels, posts, and birthdays. Additionally, it still surfaces pending friend requests.
To ensure visibility of the new tab, long-tap Facebook’s bottom bar on an Android or iOS device and tap Customize your tab bar. Look for Friends and Pin it to the bottom bar. Alternatively, head to Settings & Privacy → Settings → Tab bar → Customize the bar → Pin Friends.
The revamped tab is currently rolling out in the US and Canada. Meta did not mention if and when it will expand to other countries, but it did indicate that users should be on the lookout for more “OG Facebook experiences throughout the year.”
