Meta just can’t let go of Facebook. Like feeding an injured bird you know isn’t long for this world, the company is still desperate to see Facebook return to its former glory. One of the ways it hopes to achieve this is by making Facebook even closer to Instagram, a platform that’s still thriving in 2025 in the face of competition.
Meta reckons that by updating its recommendations engine to better mimic Instagram’s, it can eke out more watchtime by surfacing “more of the content you’re interested in”. Go figure. It’s astounding that it’s taken Meta this long to make the change, especially after seeing how suited an app like Instagram is, which relies on its short-form video content to remain relevant.
Alright, reel it in buddy
The biggest change to the recommendations engine is its ability to “understand your interests faster.” Once it’s got a taste of your likes and dislikes, it’ll bring up more engaging content in a bid to up those screentime hours. And if you don’t like what Facebook recommends, you can now tap ‘Not Interested’ to let it know.
It’ll even take the length of the videos a user typically watches into consideration. It’s also placing a larger focus on Reels published that day — with roughly 50% of the content users see being older videos.
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“We’re also making it easier to explore your interests and get inspired by others on Facebook. Now, you can dive deeper into your interests with AI-powered suggested search on select reels to discover more content about a topic you love, all without leaving the reels player,” the blog post reads.
Users will also get an indication of the Reels their friends are enjoying, with ‘friend bubbles’ appearing on those that friends have liked. This is meant to “make it easy to start a chat instantly about what you’re both interested in.” Whether Facebook’s changes are enough to draw people back in remains to be seen.
