After teasing a return to “OG Fb” earlier this 12 months, the social community on Thursday introduced an replace that may give customers a easy approach to join with buddies. The corporate is introducing a brand new Fb Pals tab that may solely showcase updates from buddies, with out another really helpful content material. Meta explains in a weblog submit that the thought is to convey again options targeted on Fb’s authentic mission of connecting individuals with buddies by means of a social networking expertise.
The tab, which is initially accessible solely within the U.S. and Canada, will characteristic buddies’ content material, together with their posts, Reels, tales, birthdays, and pal requests.
Beforehand, the tab had solely supplied a spot to view your pal requests and different “Individuals You Could Know.”
The corporate in October launched a Gen Z-focused redesign of its flagship social community, hoping to draw a youthful crowd that has largely deserted or ignored Fb in favor of different social apps, like Meta’s Instagram or TikTok. These earlier modifications targeted on connecting customers to neighborhood data, Fb Teams, and video.
Nonetheless, in January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated through the firm’s This autumn earnings name {that a} “return to OG Fb” was a part of his key targets for 2025.
“I feel there are a whole lot of alternatives to make [Facebook] far more culturally influential than it’s at the moment,” he informed traders, including, “I feel a few of this may sort of get again to how Fb was initially used again within the day.”
The CEO didn’t say on the time what kind of modifications could be in retailer, however the Pals tab replace is the primary of many that may roll out this 12 months.
In a blog post, the corporate admitted that the social community wanted to return to its roots.
“Over time, Fb developed to fulfill altering wants and created best-in-class experiences throughout Teams, Video, Market and extra, however the magic of buddies has fallen away,” the submit states.
The brand new Pals tab is on the market by means of the navigation bar on Fb’s House Feed and shall be accessible by means of the Bookmarks part of the app, the corporate says.
Customers may choose to pin their Pals tab to their House Feed to make it much more handy. (To take action, click on “Setting & Privateness” –> “Settings” –> “Tab bar.” You then can select to customise your tab bar and might pin the brand new tab there.)