Summary:
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Facebook plans to test a new video-focused interface similar to TikTok, starting in select countries this year.
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Users can opt out of the new interface, with the classic feed remaining available as a separate tab.
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Meta’s recent launches, including Forum and Seller apps, signal a shift towards deeper discussions and enhanced user verification.
Facebook is about to look a lot less like Facebook. Head of Facebook Tom Alison announced Thursday that the platform will begin testing a “reimagined experience” later this year that drops a subset of users into full-screen video the moment they open the app, just like…TikTok.
Meta did not share what the new interface will look like, saying only that the test will start in countries with a strong preference for video content, with a potential U.S. expansion planned for next year.
Users who prefer the traditional experience will be able to opt out, and the classic feed will remain available as a separate tab. Facebook shared in a statement, “video is where conversations are happening, communities are forming, and even commerce is starting to take place.”
Meta’s own data showed the company collectively lost 20 million users in the first quarter of 2026. Facebook remains the most popular social platform globally, but YouTube is close behind, and TikTok crossed 1 billion monthly users just three years after launch, a milestone that took Facebook far longer to reach.
Meta launched Reels on Instagram in 2020 to compete with TikTok, YouTube built Shorts, Snapchat built Spotlight, and now the original social network is getting the same treatment. Notably, Alison told The Verge in 2022 that he saw “TikTok chasing Facebook,” not the other way around. Four years later, the direction of the chase looks harder to argue.
Earlier this year, Meta launched Forum, a standalone app that gives people a dedicated space for Facebook Groups, similar to subreddit communities on Reddit.
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Forum lets users post under nicknames and is positioned as a place for “deeper discussions, real answers and communities you care about,” which is about as close to Reddit’s pitch as you can get without the upvote button. Thursday’s announcement added a Craigslist-flavored entry too: Seller, a dedicated app for Marketplace sellers to manage listings, track performance and message buyers. Facebook is also introducing a free verified badge earned through a selfie verification process, meant to signal that a profile belongs to a real person, a notable shift given that verification previously required a Meta Verified subscription starting at $11.99 per month.
What this could mean for creators has both its pros and cons. A full-screen algorithmic feed rewards discovery over follower counts, which means creators who never built a Facebook audience could suddenly find reach there, particularly with the older demographics that TikTok underserves.
It also means one more platform where the winning format is the same vertical video, pushing creators further toward making identical content everywhere and deepening their dependence on recommendation algorithms rather than audiences they own. The free verification badge could help with the impersonation problem that has long plagued creators on Facebook, though it remains to be seen how the selfie process works in practice.
