Facebook launches a Gen Z-focused redesign
Facebook wants to woo more younger users to join its social network, instead of spending all their time on TikTok, Instagram, and other social apps. To do so, parent company Meta on Friday announced a series of changes to the older social network which will put greater emphasis on local community information, videos, and Facebook Groups, among other things. Other Facebook products, like Meta AI, Facebook Dating, and Messenger are receiving updates as well.
Most notably, the emphasis of Facebook’s redesign, announced today at a Facebook IRL pop-up event in Austin, will be partly on its entertainment options — a move meant to rival apps like TikTok. The changes will also focus on the more practical offerings Facebook provides users in a local community. Beyond buy/sell groups, the site has become a key staging ground and communication hub for other local groups, like those impacted by natural disasters, as is currently the case in states impacted by Hurricane Helene. (Due to climate change, these types of disaster response groups will likely become more common, too.)
The updates come as the Facebook brand is in decline, which led the company to rename itself Meta in 2021, shifting its focus away from its top social app and onto the metaverse instead. Facebook’s user base has been growing older, and younger people haven’t been signing up in great numbers to create a new generation of users.
That’s particularly true in the U.S. According to data from the Pew Research Center only 33% of U.S. teens are now on Facebook as of last year, down from 71% of teens in 2014.
Still, Meta is hopeful because it found that young adults, particularly 20-somethings, have been using the site for certain features, like Facebook Groups and Marketplace, for instance. The New York Times even covered the latter, as an example of how Facebook was being used by the next generation as a place to thrift shop, not to socialize.
Today’s series of updates capitalize on these trends by making Facebook more approachable for those wanting to connect with their local community or be entertained, rather than as a friend-focused social network.
New Facebook Features
For starters, Facebook is introducing a new tab called “Local,” which will pull in local content from across places like Marketplace, Groups, and Events into a single section. Here, users will find things like nearby activities, local groups offering items for sale or for free, local recommendations about new neighborhood hot spots, and more.
The tab will initially only be available in testing in select U.S. cities, including Austin, New York City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco, and Phoenix.
In addition to the Local tab, a user’s local community will be highlighted in other ways on Facebook. A new, swipeable section will appear in the user’s Facebook Feed (formerly, News Feed) which will showcase interesting posts and information from the area. This may include things like local events, local Facebook Groups, notable people or businesses, items for sale on Marketplace, and more.
The social network is introducing a new “Explore” tab as well, focused on personalized recommendations. This section will be powered by an algorithm that will surface not just content that entertains, but those that will connect you to interests, even if they’re narrowly defined. As an example, Facebook says users might find things like tips for traveling abroad for the first time, DIY tricks for repurposing furniture, or running groups for marathon training, among other things.
The Explore tab will also gain a prominent place in the redesigned app, becoming the fifth button on the bottom navigation bar on iOS (top bar on Android), and one that’s directly in the center of the app.
Clicking through will take you to a page that looks a lot like Pinterest or ByteDance’s Instagram/Pinterest competitor, Lemon8, which has been growing in popularity among younger users thanks to its promotion on TikTok. The page will be split into two sections, a “For You” feed and one focused on “Nearby,” or more local content.
