Facebook’s Video Tab Revamp Highlights Reels and Suggestions
Facebook is giving its in-app video hub a makeover, similar to Instagram’s style, in an effort to enhance its content. The modifications will introduce Reels’ editing tools to all Facebook videos and introduce a new “Explore” section to showcase popular clips and provide other recommendations.
It will also have a new name. Previously, the name of the Facebook Watch tab is now simply “Video”. The section that hosts short clips like Reels, as well as live video and longer content, continues to work at the top of the Facebook app.
The rebranding comes as Facebook’s video strategy has changed dramatically since the “Watch” section debuted in 2017, when the company put a heavy emphasis on TV shows and other long-form content created for Facebook. Now, much of Meta’s video focus is centered around its TikTok competitor, reels and other algorithmically recommended clips. Mark Zuckerberg has said for the past year that his goal is to turn Facebook into more of a “discovery engine” that surfaces more content beyond users’ social graphs.
Some of these themes appear in Facebook’s new video tab, which features a new “Explore” section similar to Instagram’s Explore grid. From there, users can find groups of trending videos and other recommendations grouped by hashtags.
Meta has also taken steps to integrate Reels on Facebook more closely with Instagram. For some time now, Facebook has encouraged users to send reels from Instagram to Facebook. Now the company is also merging comments between the two apps so that users no longer need to switch to the Instagram app to comment on a feed from Instagram.
The changes are now starting to take effect on the Facebook app and website.
