Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
What comes to your mind when you think of the Facebook app? Well, of course, the Feed, where you can check all the updates from your friends, pages and groups. But Meta is now looking to change that experience. The company has been putting more focus on short-form video content, particularly Reels. Now, according to a report, it is testing a new experience in India that takes some users straight to a full-screen Reels feed instead of the traditional Facebook Feed.
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According to TechCrunch, some users in India are seeing the full-screen video interface when they open the app, putting Reels at the centre of the Facebook experience. The test is said to be part of Meta’s effort to make video more prominent on Facebook. However, the company is not getting rid of the traditional Feed. Users included in the test can still opt out and return to the Feed-first experience, while the classic Feed remains available as a separate tab.
For users in the test, Facebook is opening directly to Reels instead of the usual Feed of posts from friends, pages and groups. Meanwhile, the regular Feed is not going away. Users can switch back to it, with the Feed also available as a separate tab.
Meta had already hinted at a Reels-first Facebook
The test is not entirely unexpected. Facebook head Tom Alison first outlined the plan in July, saying Meta would begin testing a redesigned, more video-forward Facebook experience later this year in countries where people watch a lot of video.
“People are showing us they want more immersive, visual, video-forward experiences, and video is where conversations are happening, communities are forming, and even commerce is starting to take place,” he wrote. “So later this year, we’ll begin testing a reimagined experience that puts a subset of people who we think want more video on Facebook into full-screen video the moment they open the app.”
“People will have the option to opt out and go back to a Feed-first experience if they choose, and Classic Feed will always be available as the second tab in the app, just one click away,” he added.
At the time, Alison did not name the countries involved, but said Meta would explore bringing the experience to the US next year.
India appears to be the first market where this test has been publicly reported. And the choice makes sense given how heavily Indian users consume video on Meta’s platforms.
Meta says 97 per cent of people surveyed in India watch videos on its platforms every day, while 89 per cent of Gen Z respondents use Reels daily. This is also why Meta has been gradually making Facebook more video-focused. Last year, the company said all new videos uploaded to Facebook would be shared as Reels, regardless of their length or format, and also renamed the Video tab to Reels.
There is also some history behind India’s role in Meta’s video strategy. Instagram began testing a dedicated Reels tab in India in 2020, shortly after TikTok was banned in the country. Meta later tested a Reels-first experience on Instagram for some users in India and South Korea, where the app opened directly into the video interface.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
