Facebook Rededign: Leaked memo reveals how Meta plans to challenge TikTok

Meta wants to fundamentally rethink the way its social network Facebook works. This is the result of a leaked memo to employees. In the Facebook redesign, the company has set its sights on its fastest-growing competitor, TikTok, in particular, and wants to redesign the feed.

Facebook Redesign Blows Attack on TikTok

The popularity of TikTok, currently the fastest growing social network, continues unabated. Facebook, on the other hand, is more on the decline, which is why those in charge at parent company Meta are planning a rethink.

As the US website The Verge reports, they have an internal memo from April 2022 in which Facebook manager Tom Alison talks about restructuring plans for the social network.

The introduction of short videos, the so-called Reels, which Facebook had adopted from Instagram, was not enough, he said. Internally, the company has been closely monitoring the innovations of its competitor TikTok and, together with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is pursuing a plan to completely redesign the Facebook feed.

Instead of prioritizing content and posts from people you follow, the new Facebook main feed wants to follow TikTok’s lead and “massively recommend posts, no matter where they come from”.

Return of Facebook Messenger

But that’s not all. Years after Facebook strictly separated the network and Facebook Messenger, the messaging program is now to be fully integrated back into the app as part of Facebook’s redesign, putting it in competition with TikTok’s messaging functionality.

Apparently, the meta company has indeed taken a close look at the competitor and is now trying to swim along in the wave of success of the social network. Instagram had already adopted a similar structure with the last updates. Now those responsible are hoping to achieve similar success with the changes to the Facebook feed and to win back young people in particular.

The goal, according to Alison, is to build a “discovery engine” with the Facebook redesign, as he reveals in an interview with The Verge. Mark Zuckerberg also used this phrase at the meta company’s last investor meeting. The focus is on discovering new content, outside of one’s own contacts and followed content. One had recognized the growing threat from TikTok too late and must now react accordingly, Alison continued in the interview.

What should the new Facebook app look like?

The main tab in the Facebook app will focus on a mix of Stories and Reels at the top in the future, followed by posts from the Discovery Engine, she said. The latter are to be based equally on recommendations from Facebook and Instagram.

Following the Facebook redesign, the entire experience is to be significantly more visual and more video-based. At the same time, it should also be easier to share content with friends via direct message. The Messenger feature will also be integrated more prominently. This will take the form of an Inbox icon in the upper right corner of the app.

Similar to TikTok, the Facebook feed will in future primarily display content based on the user’s own preferences and less on posts from friends and acquaintances. “Where we want to go with Facebook is we’re trying to give you the best content that really fits your interests, that’s then super easy to share and discuss, and lets you connect with other people in your network,” Alison continues.

The Facebook app, she says, has become too cluttered and bloated over the years. In the future, it should become clearer and easier to use again. Meanwhile, Facebook employees apparently expressed concerns about the internal memo that the plans would copy TikTok too aggressively.

Either way, there will be some changes in the Facebook app in the future. However, Tom Alison also sees this as a “big responsibility”to not lose sight of the social network’s focus. If the execution of the changes were well implemented, the new discovery engine would “improve the ability of users to connect with each other”.  There is no information on the implementation schedule.