Facebook returns to its roots with a revamped Friends tab

Facebook launched a redesigned Friends tab feature targeted at reconnecting users with material from people they know, signalling a strategic return to the platform's original social objective. The new tool, which is now being rolled out in the United States and Canada, offers a specialised newsfeed that only includes content from friends, with no artificial recommendations.

The updated Friends tab will show your friends' tales, reels, posts, birthdays, and friend requests. The tab used to contain largely friend requests and "People You May Know" suggestions, but it has subsequently evolved into a carefully controlled feed that only shows information from proven relationships.

According to Facebook's release, the modification is the first of numerous "OG" (original) Facebook experiences that will be rolled out this year. According to the firm, as Facebook has expanded to include Groups, Video, and Marketplace, "the magic of friends has fallen away".

Users will be able to reach the new Friends tab via the home feed's navigation bar or the Bookmarks menu. Users can also pin the tab for fast access by clicking their profile photo and going to "Settings & Privacy," then "Settings," then "Tab bar," where they can personalise and pin the Friends item.

Meta wrote:

We want to make it easier for people to find their friends’ content on Facebook. So starting today in the United States and Canada, the new Friends tab provides an experience made up entirely of content from your Facebook friends.

Formerly a place to view friend requests and People You May Know, the Friends tab will now show your friends’ stories, reels, posts, birthdays and friend requests.

Instagram is also reintroducing a version of its former "Activity" feed, which was removed in 2019, with Adam Mosseri unveiling a new Reels tab that would show videos that friends have liked or commented on, allowing users to see which connections have interacted with specific Reels.

This adjustment appears to be part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg's overall attempt to reclaim some of the platform's past appeal, when social interactions rather than algorithmic-matched content drove the user experience.