New Facebook Reels algorithm will make Facebook look like TikTok
Image Credit: Facebook
A Facebook company memo let slip that soon the difference between Reels and TikTok will be harder to spot than ever.
First users wondered if Instagram is becoming TikTok, with the increasing short videos on the app. Now with changes to the Facebook algorithm, Facebook looks set to become a TikTok clone too.
According to leaked information seen by The Verge, Reels are set to become the dominant feature on both Instagram and Facebook.
How is the Facebook algorithm changing in 2022?
Already heavily promoted by the algorithm on both of Meta’s social media platforms, the new Facebook algorithm will suggest random Reels it thinks a user will enjoy. Just like TikTok. It will also encourage them to share it with their friends.
Reels had been brought into Facebook from Instagram without much of a change occurring. The proposed updates will make the two more similar – both video-heavy and, ultimately, more like TikTok.
Further changes will mean Facebook Messenger will also be brought within the main Facebook app, just like on TikTok and Instagram. Remember, the aim of all social platforms is to keep users on the app. According to the memo there’ll be a clear push towards getting users to message each other about Reels within Facebook.
The changes are also a bid to create “a cleaner and easier to use experience,” according to Tom Alison, who heads up the Facebook app, and wrote the published memo. Sounds like TikTok, one of the simplest social networks out there.
Alison’s memo states that Meta’s number one priority is to make Reels successful:
“Today’s genre of public short-form video opens up new ways for people to create and discover content. While Facebook’s discovery engine is designed to support many different formats (text, photos, video, and eventually Metaverse experiences), our biggest gap today is around short-form video and that’s why we’re focused on integrating Reels in Home, Watch, IFR, and Groups.”
How will changes to the Facebook algorithm affect music artists?
For music artists and other creators, keeping up with social media changes can feel like a never-ending game of switcheroo as all the social networks steal each other’s ideas.
But these tools help get your music in front of more potential listeners, so it’s always worth putting energy into the trend as platforms move their focus onto a new feature.
If you’re an artist, with RouteNote you can get your songs onto Facebook and Instagram for free so people can use your music in the background of their Reels – and you can put your music on the TikTok sound library, too.