fter a period of teasing whether or not we would be returning to the “OG Facebook” earlier this year, on Thursday, the social media platform announced its
comeback with its latest updates. Facebook will have an easier way to connect with friends. The social media giant will be introducing a new tab that will allow users to connect with their friends, showcase updates from them, and no longer recommend content, just your friends.
The update was explained by Meta in a blog post, highlighting the purpose of those changes, saying that the idea was to bring back features that are focused on Facebook’s original mission of connecting people with friends through social media.
The tab that will be introduced will initially be available only in the US and Canada, yet the feature will slowly make waves in other countries. The tab will feature friends’ content as well as their Reels, stories, birthdays, as well as friend requests.
In the past, the tab worked as “People You May Know”, being designed to view your friend requests.
It is also worth mentioning that in October, the company launched a Gen Z-focused redesign of its flagship social network, hoping to attract a younger crowd that is no longer interested in the social media app, compared to TikTok or Instagram.
Subscribe to our newsletter
However, in January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the company’s Q4 earnings call that a “return to OG Facebook” was part of their objectives for 2025.
Saying “I think there are a lot of opportunities to make [Facebook] way more culturally influential than it is today,” also adding, “I think some of this will kind of get back to how Facebook was originally used back in the day”.
Yet, at that time, the changes that were expected were not made public, but the Friends tab update is the first of many changes that are expected to make an entrance this year. Even more so, in a blog post, the company also admitted that the social media platform needed to return to its roots.
The post mentioned “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,”.
If you are wondering where you can find this update, well, the new Friends tab is available through the navigation bar on Facebook’s Home Feed and will be accessible through the Bookmarks section of the app.
Users also have the ability to pin their Friends tab to their Home Feed in order to make it even more convenient. You will need to click Settings & Privacy> Settings >Tab bar. After this, you will have the ability to customize your tab bar and can in the new tab there.
