By Sheila Dang
AUSTIN (Reuters) – Facebook, one of the original social media networks, has become known as the platform of parents and grandparents, while young adults take up photo and video apps like Instagram and TikTok.
Meta, the company that owns Facebook, is setting out to change that.
While Facebook was originally centered on helping users stay in touch with family and friends, the future lies in helping people expand their networks and make new connections, which lines up with how younger generations use the service, said Tom Alison, head of Facebook at Meta.
“We see young adults turn to Facebook when they make a transition in life. When they move to a new city, they’re using Marketplace to furnish their apartments. When they become parents, they’re joining parenting groups,” Alison said during an interview in Austin, Texas, ahead of an event on Friday with content creators.
During the event, Facebook announced two new tabs called Local and Explore, currently being tested in select cities and markets and which aggregate content from across the platform. The Local tab shows users nearby events, community groups and local items for sale, and the Explore tab recommends content based on a user’s interests.
An increased focus on young adults will be key to bringing in new users as Facebook faces vast competition for their attention. Short-form video app TikTok has 150 million users in the U.S. and is wildly popular among Gen Z, prompting Meta to introduce its copycat product called Reels in 2021.
Young adults on Facebook spend 60% of their time watching videos and more than half watch Reels daily. The company said it would also roll out an updated video tab in coming weeks that collects short-form, live and longer videos in one place.
Facebook’s dating feature, launched in 2019 and which lets users flip through suggested profiles, has seen a 24% year-over-year increase in conversations started among young adults in the U.S. and Canada, the company said.
At the pop-up event in Austin, a small booklet summed up the platform’s positioning for the future: “Not your mom’s (Facebook),” the title read.
(Reporting by Sheila Dang in Austin; Editing by Tom Hogue)
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