It may not be surprising at the moment, but TikTok has boomed into one of the most popular social media websites ever. All people from young to old tend to download the app out of curiosity and are immediately sucked in by endless streams of tailored content. Finally, Facebook is baring its fangs to combat this TikTok craze. Here’s the story behind it.
Facebook is something we all know and has become the hub of almost everything we do. It has embedded itself in our everyday lives by being the center of our careers, social connections, family, and everything else under the sun. At this rate, one scroll through a Facebook profile can be viewed as a summary of one’s identity.
This is what the internet was all about. It was keeping in touch with family/friends and seeing what they enjoy through posts, pictures, and check-ins at local spots, among other online activities. It formed an intricate web between communities that made people you cared about that were far away, closer than ever.
However, we do know that content evolves. Videos on Facebook can range from a few seconds to a few hours and usually find their way into your News Feed when shared by someone within your immediate online communities. YouTube, on the other hand, takes some sort of cinematic experience but makes it virtual.
TikTok establishes a middle ground by keeping video length to a certain average of a few seconds to a minute or so. This encourages short-form content that isn’t as huge of a commitment from a prospective viewer just checking if they’ll actually enjoy the video. A boom resulted from the spontaneity the original TikTok presented, in its dance crazes and other simple yet entertaining topics.
We can infer that the pandemic had a lot to do with TikTok’s boom over other streaming platforms. It was a way to show yourself to the world without the pretense and preparation for the expected quality of a YouTube video. Its vertical orientation also exudes a more organic feel and allows people to just be themselves. During the pandemic when we were all lopped onto our couches waiting for the next big update from the news, it was great to watch how other people kept themselves sane on the platform. Those were a lot of hours of mindless scrolling.
These are all splendid points, but we haven’t gotten to the biggest fish yet: algorithm. TikTok has a feature called the For You Page, which recommends content based on ones you’ve interacted with before. Whether you kept watching, dropped a like or even a comment has a substantial effect on what shows up on the feed. This opens up the gateways for users outside of their communities and gives them the leeway to find new creators to follow. Facebook encouraged community interactions over commonalities, but TikTok broadened your world.
Seeing these factors, Facebook (effectively Meta) has decided to take a page from the TikTok book. While Instagram Reels was one way to do it, the new Home tab is much more aggressive. Instead of just featuring content from family and friends, it will also mix in random content it thinks you will appreciate. This will be based on your overall interactions while on the platform, and your approval of this curated content will be gauged through your likes and comments. It will be dubbed “Suggested For You.”
Understanding the worry that the suggested posts might outnumber ones from the user’s community, founder Mark Zuckerberg assures users that people will have more control over their own feeds than ever before. This could mean setting limits on outside content or outright disabling the function altogether. We’re personally happy that this new feature was even introduced and we’re excited to see its implementation.
According to timelines, these changes to make Facebook a little bit more like TikTok are set to roll out next week.
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