Will These New Features Get Gen Z on Facebook?
By Movieguide® Contributor
Facebook is leaning into its community elements in a new redesign with Gen Zers in mind.
“We’re still for everyone,” Tom Alison, Meta’s Facebook head, said at an event in May. “But we also recognize that in order to stay relevant, we have to build for…Gen Z.”
Facebook use has plummeted among younger users over the last few years, with many Gen Zers writing it off as a social media platform for their parents. However, Facebook noticed Gen Z’s use in community-focused components of the site, like Facebook Marketplace and specialized groups.
READ MORE: FACEBOOK ANNOUNCES ‘SIGNIFICANT CHANGES’ TO INCREASE NUMBER OF GEN Z USERS
Speaking about their new strategy to bring young users back in, Alison told NBC, “One is just: What do young people want — particularly young adults, Gen Z, ages 18 through 29 — from a social app these days? And how can Facebook really be a part of that? And then the second is obviously all of the advancements in technology offered by AI.”
One of the biggest parts of the social media’s redesign is the “Local” tab, a new feature that “will pull in local content from across places like Marketplace, Groups, and Events into a single section,” per TechCrunch. “Here, users will find things like nearby activities, local groups offering items for sale or for free, local recommendations about new neighborhood hot spots, and more.”
To start, this feature will only be available in cities like Austin, New York City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco and Phoenix, with plans to take it wider if testing is a success.
More new features include a full-screen “Video” tab for Facebook reels, an “Explore” tab with content tailored to the user’s interests and a “Matchmaker” feature that allows users to swipe on potential dates for their friends through Facebook Dating.
“Being able to expand our products around local offerings, it’s not the only thing that Facebook will become,” Alison explained. “But we are seeing it really have a lot of resonance with young adults.”
