According to a leaked paper, Facebook plans to significantly alter its rival TikTok.
In 2020, Instagram released Reels that were modelled after TikTok, and the business has been gradually adding features to boost its discoverability. Additionally, between September 2021 and February 2022 internationally, the Facebook app introduced the short video format. Facebook, which is controlled by Meta, seems to want to add additional features and change its algorithm to compete with TikTok, which is still widely used worldwide despite being outlawed in India. According to SensorTower statistics, TikTok was the most downloaded and highest-grossing app in Q1 2022 (January to March).
Tom Alison, the CEO of the Facebook app, reportedly wants the platform to include a “Discovery Engine” to provide more tailored short video suggestions, much to TikTok’s “For You” feed. According to the leaked paper, Reel suggestions would also come from “unconnected” material, meaning viewers will watch many genres of brief films to maintain interest.
By substantially investing in a “Modern Recommendation Systems” program with partners throughout the industry, the corporation also intends to put out material to assist consumers with “trending content and original authors.” According to the document, Facebook intends to reinstate Messenger in the app because it thinks there has been a change in how users now exchange material.
Given Facebook’s illustrious history of emphasizing “viral content,” it is yet unknown how the corporation will execute these changes.
Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram came under fire in 2020 for their inability to combat false material around COVID. The process isn’t complete, but the business did (and still does) block content on anti-vaccine blogs last year. Following the riots at the US Capitol in January 2021, the corporation once more received a ton of criticism from users and detractors.
The email from Alison emphasizes:
“The aforementioned objectives are highlighted because they stand in for the short-term, high-lift investments that we need to speed up in order to unlock fundamental shifts in how people use Facebook over the next years. They also provide some of the greatest, but most difficult, chances for us to be successful with young adults “.
