Facebook’s new throwback move: a feed just for friends

Meta wants to revive Facebook’s old-school appeal by introducing a new Friends Tab, which will focus solely on posts shared by a user’s friends and family.

This Friends Tab will replace the section in the app that previously displayed friend requests and suggested friends. Instead, users in the United States and Canada will now see a scrolling feed featuring photos, videos, friend requests, birthday reminders, and text posts.

“Over the years, Facebook evolved to meet changing needs and created best-in-class experiences across Groups, Video, Marketplace and more, but the magic of friends has fallen away,” the company wrote in an unattributed blog post. “We’ll be adding several ‘OG’ Facebook experiences throughout the year, beginning with the revamped Friends tab.”

Importantly, the new Friends Tab won’t replace the Home feed, which still includes recommended content. However, Facebook may see this as a way to offer the best of both worlds.

The company received significant backlash in 2022 after announcing plans to introduce recommended content from users who weren’t added as “friends.” Although Meta scaled back that content, users continued to see their feeds flooded with posts from creators and brands over time.

This algorithm-driven approach has generally been seen as a strategy to boost engagement. Instead of checking in occasionally to stay connected with friends, many users turned to social media for endless scrolling.

“Social media should feel social,” the company wrote. “In that spirit, we’ll be adding more fun, simple experiences to help you connect and share on Facebook throughout the year.”

Facebook’s user base continues to skew older. A Pew Research Center survey from fall 2023 found that only a third of American teens ages 13 to 17 reported using Facebook—a steep drop from the 71% who said they used it in a 2014–2015 survey. It’s unclear how many young users will actually see the latest updates.

Still, the move could appeal to users weary of algorithms and brand-driven content. Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said during a January analyst call that there are many opportunities to make the app “more culturally influential than it is today.”

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