Facebook update brings more posts from strangers, big changes

The social media giant announced changes to Facebook and Messenger at its Facebook IRL event in Austin, Texas, on Friday, including multiple new tabs.

The key changes include:

• A Local tab that will show posts from Marketplace, Groups and Events near your Facebook location
• An Explore tab reminiscent of the Instagram tab of the same name, with posts curated by an algorithm tailored to your interests
• A Reels tab more prominently displayed on Facebook’s navigation with a full-screen video player built for “seamless” scrolling
• Expanded event invites that will allow users to invite guests to RSVP to Event pages via SMS and email, allowing users beyond just the platform itself
• AI search in Groups to help group members search for posts that answer previously asked questions in a community
• A Matchmaker feature for Dating meant to let your friends help select your matches
• Upgrades to AI photo editing and search that will let you find and create more content with the help of AI
• Music and mentions in Notes in Messenger will allow more expressive functionalities to “spark conversations”
• Memories and Communities in Messenger will give users throwbacks of shared content as well as options to curate group messages around specific topics, without having to create a new Group
• A new creator monetization program that aims to bring more creators to Stories, Reels and other content formats

While users will still be able to interact with and view their friends’ activity and posts from the Facebook homepage as usual, the new curated tabs will emphasize content discovery from users you’re not already following.

For example, let’s say you like a Facebook post about watching The Nightmare Before Christmas at Halloween. When you navigate to the Local tab, you might find a recommended Tim Burton-themed Halloween event in your area that was shared by a person or group you don’t already follow. Using data from your past likes and shares, Facebook’s new tabs will curate and serve content it assumes you will like. And that will mean more content from strangers.

“We’re adding features that help young adults – and all Facebook users – explore their interests and connect with the world beyond their close friends,” Meta’s announcement read. “We want to make it easy for you to discover the content and people you care about, because that’s exactly the kind of social discovery that Facebook is built for.”

Meta said the new features are currently being rolled out to users at different speeds. Some features, such as the new Facebook Dating Matchmaker, will start appearing for users in the coming days. Other features will slowly roll out for testing across the U.S. and Canada in coming weeks, according to Meta. The Local tab is currently being tested in Austin, New York City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco and Phoenix.

Friday’s announcement marks a continued shift by social media platforms toward recommended content following the breakout success of TikTok in the last five years. X, formerly Twitter, introduced its algorithmic “Home” feature back in 2016, though it has grown more sophisticated and since been renamed “For You” under owner Elon Musk. He also changed X in 2023 so that users would automatically open to the “For You” page rather than the tab of your curated followers.

Meta has already been moving toward more recommended content in its feeds and embracing algorithms that predict and display which posts users are most likely to engage with. Instagram’s “Explore” page is also based on users’ interactions with other content on the platform.

Meta’s updates also lean into its ongoing effort to be a one-stop-shop of social offerings, with its updates to Groups and Events as well as monetization aiming to bring more users into the platform and keep them there instead of TikTok, Reddit, X, Nextdoor and other spots.

The company has had a big year, with shares rising 23% since it reported better-than-expected sales in the second quarter and began its push into AI chatbots and language learning models. It closed at an all-time high Thursday of $582.77, pushing up Zuckerberg’s net worth and making him the world’s second-richest person alive.