Facebook plans to turn its main feed into a “discovery engine” for video content, according to an internal memo sent to employees.
The Verge obtained the memo and released it in full. Although the memo was first made public today, it was first sent on April 27.
That means Facebook has had a month and a half to execute on its “near-term” plan. We may eventually see these changes roll out sooner or later.
Here are the must-know highlights from a memo written by Facebook head Tom Alison.
Enhance content discoverability
The buzzword Facebook uses to describe its vision is “discovery engine.”
Alison said that’s where he wants to turn Facebook into — a place where people can go to get recommendations of content they might like.
He listed three near-term priorities that will help Facebook achieve its vision:
- Make the scrolls successful.
- Build world-class recommendation technology.
- Unlock message-based sharing.
Turning Facebook into a “discovery engine” simply means recommending more content from users’ unconnected accounts.
Historically, Facebook has prioritized content posted or shared by contacts like friends and family.
Unconnected content has never been the focus of Facebook feeds. Turning the feed into an endless stream of discovery meant it had to pull from the entire Facebook network.
How does this meet Facebook’s three priorities?
make the scroll successful
While Facebook plans to improve the discoverability of all content, it believes its biggest gap is in short videos.
To fill that void, Facebook made Reels more discoverable by integrating short videos into more parts of the site.
Building a world-class recommendation technology
To achieve its goal of being a discovery engine, Facebook plans to develop a recommender system that responds to people’s interests, identifies trending content, and makes responsible choices.
Unlock message-based sharing
People are increasingly sharing and discovering content privately through Messenger, rather than publicly in the main stream.
Facebook plans to do this by offering more ways to share content through its messaging app.
What would a Facebook feed look like?
The Verge’s Alex Heath spoke directly to Alison, the author of the Facebook memo, for more information on what’s changing.
According to Heath’s conversation with the head of Facebook, this is how he described the main feed.
“Here’s how the future Facebook app will work in practice: the main tab will be a combination of stories and reels at the top, followed by posts from Facebook and Instagram recommended by its discovery engine. It will be a more intuitive, video-focused approach to make messaging more prominent, Facebook is working to put users’ Messenger inboxes in the top-right corner of the app, reversing the move eight years ago to put the two The notorious decision to separate apps.”
When will these changes roll out?
Not sure when that will transition to Facebook as a discovery engine, though Alison sounds eager to execute on his vision.
If Facebook is a priority for you and your business, the best way to prepare for this change is to adapt to creating and posting more short videos.
While Facebook will continue to display text and photo posts, they will complement the primary appeal of Reels and Stories.
resource: edge
Featured Image: rafapress/Shutterstock
