Meta is trying to make Facebook suck less by simplifying things a bit

Somewhere along its never-ending quest to increase engagement, Meta realized that giving Facebook users more of what they want would make it more likely that they’ll stick around. The company has announced a bunch of updates designed to help improve the feed and the broader Facebook experience by making it easier to find, create and share interesting things. (Because primarily showing updates from your friends with the occasional ad or meme post is maybe just too complicated.)

Simplification is a big focus of this overhaul. First, the Facebook feed will be a bit more streamlined. Whenever you post multiple photos, Facebook will arrange them into a standardized grid. When you click into anything on the feed, you’ll be able to see it in a full screen view. And there’s a very welcome change in that you’ll be able to like a photo by double-tapping it. Just be careful with that when you’re swiping through an ex’s or a crush’s photos.

Search results are now said to “show more content in a more immersive grid layout that supports all content types,” according to Meta. The company is trying out a new full-screen viewer for Facebook that “lets you explore different photo and video results without losing your place in search,” which it plans to expand to “more content and post types in the coming months.”

In addition, the company says you’ll be able to provide feedback on a Facebook post or Reel to help make future recommendations more relevant. More ways for you to “shape your feed” and offer feedback on what the algorithm serves up are coming soon.

The Facebook feed sucks, and it’s good that Meta knows it sucks. There have been numerous occasions over the last couple of years where I’ve had to scroll through a couple dozen uninteresting posts from pages and creators I’ve never heard of before seeing something from a friend. The glut of spam and AI slop isn’t helping (things are pretty grim for creators who have been dealing with content thieves too).

There was a spell of several months last year when, every single time I opened Facebook, I would see an utterly garbage AI-generated image of a “tiny house,” a supposedly cozy domicile where not much actually made sense (three TVs in a living room, stairs and railings that had the telltale signs of AI warping). I’d always provide feedback that I didn’t want to see any posts from that page again. But the next day there’d be another rotten “tiny house” image from a different page in my feed.

Here’s hoping Meta will actually take feedback related to recommendations on board and act on it. If the company does, it might actually make the feed more interesting to scroll through again.

Elsewhere, Facebook will place the most-used tab bar features — such as Reels, Friends, Marketplace and Profile — front and center on the tab bar for easier and faster access. Meta is also promising a refreshed look for the menu and “cleaner” tab notifications.

Facebook is making it easier to access more popular Story and Feed post creation tools like music and friend tagging by giving them more prominent placement. Advanced options like text background colors will be an extra tap or two away. The post and Story composer feature audience and cross-post settings prominently, so that you have ease of control over who can see what you’re sharing. Meta has updated how comments work across the feed, Groups and Reels as well to make things more streamlined and easier to follow.

On top of all of that, when you make changes to your profile, you might start seeing suggestions for friends with shared interests. Meta suggested that, “if you update your profile to show you’re into sourdough bread baking or planning a trip to Nashville, Facebook will show you friends who can give you sourdough starter tips or offer suggestions on the best local spots.” As always, though, you can decide who sees what on your profile or simply opt to share none of this personal info with Facebook at all, especially if you feel that Meta already knows too much about you.