Facebook announces redesign to appeal to Gen Z

Facebook's user base is aging. So to attract Gen Z, who prefer TikTok or Instagram, the social network is preparing a mega-revamp.

Facebook wants to attract young people to its social network 

Facebook has just celebrated its 20th anniversary. To give a boost to its social network considered by the younger generation to be Old School, Meta has just announced, at the Facebook IRL in Austin, a series of updates designed to meet the new uses of young people. Among other things, Facebook will focus on local community information, videos and Facebook groups. Other Facebook products, such as Meta AI, Facebook Dating and Messenger, are also receiving updates.

Facebook is currently testing a new "Local" tab

But while the user base is aging, according to Meta data, young people haven't completely deserted the platform, and are mainly interested in features such as Facebook groups and the Marketplace. New uses that, according to the New York Times, make Mark Zuckerberg's social network " a place for thrift shops, not socializing ". Unsurprisingly, the series of Meta updates capitalizes on these new practices to make the social network more accessible to those who want to connect with their local community or have fun, rather than make friends. The platform is thus highlighting a new tab called "Local", designed to promote local content and events. With this new feature, which makes it easier for users to discover local content from Marketplace, Groups and Events in a single space, Facebook hopes to strengthen users' engagement with their community.

To date, the Local tab is in a test phase and is only active in certain regions of the USA: Austin, New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Chicago, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco and Phoenix.

Facebook introduces a new "Explorer" tab

The social network also introduces a new "Explore" tab focused on personalized recommendations. "Whether you're looking for time management tips, advice on traveling abroad for the first time, DIY tips for reusing furniture or marathon training groups, the Explorer tab will offer even more of what you're looking for, " explains Meta. The tab will be divided into two distinct sections: "For You", focused on personalized recommendations, and "Nearby", geared towards local content. Users will now receive personalized event recommendations in the form of weekly and weekend summaries, delivered via in-app notifications. Meta's aim: to make navigation more intuitive and rewarding. In addition, the new Explorer tab will take pride of place in the center of the app, becoming the fifth button on the bottom navigation bar on iOS (top bar on Android) and thus directly in the center of the app.

And for those who may have missed out, Meta reminds us on its blog that it has recently launched a new feature that lets youinvite your Instagram followers to events created on Facebook. It will also be possible to send invitations by SMS and e-mail, meaning that anyone can see and confirm their participation in an event, whether they're on Facebook or not.

Facebook: new video tab and full-screen player

Young adults spend almost 60% of their time on the platform watching videos, and more than half of them watch Reels on a daily basis. To adapt to these new uses, Facebook has announced an updated"Video" tab designed to make it easier to discover Reels, videos and live streams. In addition to this new tab, and in order to offer a more fluid and immersive visual experience, the platform will include full-screen video playback .

Facebook announces new Messenger updates

Given the success of Notes on Instagram, Facebook had duplicated the feature on Messenger in early 2024. Going one step further, it will now be possible toinclude music or mentions in text notes. The format will also be tested on Facebook. Among other updates to Messenger, Meta announced the introduction of the Memories feature to allow users to relive and share moments. " Memories in Messenger brings up old photos of your chats that you can view and share with your community, " says Meta. But that's not all, Meta is also launching Messengers Communities , a feature that will enable small and medium-sized communities to connect around shared interests without the need to create a "classic" Facebook group. " Simple, pre-designed tools will make it easy to manage and moderate your community, without the need to create a Facebook group. Expand your community more easily by inviting your Facebook friends or sharing a QR code with your community, " explains Meta.

An AI assistant in groups

Facebook groups are one of the platform's most widely used features. Currently, there are an estimated 25 million public groups active every month, which represents almost 1.8 billion monthly users. In light of these figures, Facebook is testing a new AI-based tool that will eliminate the need for community managers to answer repetitive questions every time a new user joins a group. Once the feature is activated, each new member will be prompted to open a discussion with the group's AI assistant to ask any questions and access the most relevant publications. To date, this AI is only integrated in the USA and Canada for a small number of selected groups.

MatchMaker comes to Facebook Dating

According to Facebook, conversations on Facebook Dating, a feature that uses your network and interests to help you find love, have increased by 24% in one year among young adult users in the U.S. and Canada. To boost Facebook Dating, the social network is launching MatchMaker, a tool that lets you invite up to five friends to help you choose potential matches.

Facebook supports content creators

Finally, among the other announcements that caught the eye was the launch of a new monetization program for content creators. Objective: to expand the possibilities for earning money through various content formats. Meta also plans to test monetization options for Stories in the coming months.

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