How the head of Facebook plans to compete with TikTok and win back Gen Z
Aug 30, 2022
05:05:06
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Quick takeaways
Facebook is trying to compete with TikTok by changing its algorithm and making its feed more like TikTok's algorithmic video recommendations.
Facebook is prioritizing content that captivates users and fosters meaningful social interactions by showing more content from accounts users don't follow.
Facebook is incorporating more recommendations and content from creators to improve content quality and combat abuse within the recommendations.
Deep dives
Facebook's Challenge with TikTok
Facebook is facing a significant challenge from TikTok, as the latter is capturing the attention of young people. The issue for Facebook is that its social graph, which is built around friends and family, is less engaging than the algorithmic video recommendations offered by TikTok.
Moving Towards TikTok-Like Feeds
Tom Allison, head of Facebook at Meta, discusses his efforts to make Facebook and Instagram feeds more like TikTok. This involves showing more content from accounts users don't follow, a departure from the previous focus on showing content from people users know. The aim is to prioritize content that captivates users and fosters meaningful social interactions.
The Evolution of Facebook's Feed
Facebook's feed has undergone significant changes over the years. The introduction of the meaningful social interactions (MSI) approach shifted the focus towards content that fosters meaningful connections. However, with the rise of short-form video and changing user preferences, Facebook is now incorporating more recommendations and content from creators. Efforts are also being made to improve content quality and combat abuse within the recommendations.
Improving Recommendations: Leveraging AI and User Preferences
The podcast episode discusses the efforts made by a team of AI engineers at a company to enhance the quality of recommendations. The team examines both the content and user preferences to make recommendations more personalized. The goal is to make the recommendations as good or even better than the connected content in the feed. They aim to increase social activity on the platform, such as friend posting and commenting, as a measure of success. However, they recognize that there are multiple goals to consider, including user engagement, revenue growth, experience quality, and trust and safety.
Evolving News Feed: From Web to Mobile and Beyond
The podcast delves into the different eras of the company's News Feed. The transition from web to mobile was a significant milestone and required a massive engineering effort. The company also had to adapt its design approach to create a seamless mobile product. Later, they focused on integrating various formats and content types into the feed, including video and groups. The shift to stories was initially met with skepticism but eventually gained traction. The current phase involves format innovation, such as short-form video, and wiring new ways for users to express themselves. The podcast also mentions the increasing role of AI in recommendation systems and highlights how Facebook aims to strike a balance between AI-driven recommendations and social interactions.
We’ve got a special episode of Decoder today – an interview between Verge deputy editor Alex Heath and Meta’s Tom Alison, the head of Facebook. Alex is the co-host of the newest season of Vox Media’s podcast Land of the Giants. This season is about Facebook and Meta. The season finale comes out tomorrow.
Alex has been reporting for Land of the Giants for many months, and along the way he interviewed Tom. Facebook has a lot of challenges, but it seems like the biggest problem is TikTok: Facebook's problem is that it spent years – you spent years – building out a social graph that, it turns out, is less interesting than just being shown content that the company thinks you might like. Alison has been at Facebook for more than a decade and previously ran engineering for the News Feed, so he knows more than almost anyone about the history of feeds and where they are going.
Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino. Our Editorial Director is Brooke Minters. And our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.
