The social giant Meta announced a major upgrade of the Facebook Reels referral system, which aims to make algorithms faster to capture user interest and prioritize the most fresh content.
Platform data show that the new system has increased the number of displays of short videos “published on the day” by 50 per cent, allowing users to be exposed to hot currents at the first time. At the same time, Reels has added a “good friend bubble” feature, which allows users to easily view and privateize their friends in the video and further enhance social stickyness. Meta uses the home-grown Llama model to optimize algorithms to allow the system to learn user preferences more quickly — to adjust content streams in real time from viewing time, praise and sharing behaviour. In the past, it took a few days for users to see personalization, and the algorithm now allows “seconds” of interest within hours of the first interaction to achieve a more accurate match.
In addition, Meta introduced the AI-powered search proposal, similar to the grey tip at the bottom of TikTok, and the system automatically generated the relevant Reels labels and subject recommendations when the user entered “Autumn Clip”. The director of Meta’s products said, “We want Reels to help users discover surprise content as naturally as a friend-recommended video.” The upgrade will be sent globally in mid-October, with initial tests showing a 15 per cent increase in the long ring over the user’s stay. To strengthen Facebook’s “social genes”, Reels added the “friend bubble” function: In the video-play interface, the system displays a good friend who has been praised for the Reels’ face, bubbles, and the user can click on the private chat window, share views or launch a group chat. This design is inspired by the interactive labels of Instagram, but focuses more on the socialization of acquaintances.
Since its launch in 2020, Facebook Reels has become Meta’s “killer” against TikTok: In 2024, Reels had more than 2 trillion global broadcasts, and advertising revenues had risen to 15 per cent. However, in the face of TikTok’s algorithm black box and virus transmission, Reels had a user retention rate of only 60 per cent. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in a newspaper call, said: “Reels is the key to the Facebook renaissance, and we will invest more AI resources to compete with TikTok on a level playing field.” This strategy also echoes industry trends: the short video market is expected to reach $500 billion in 2025, and Meta’s social barriers will become a weapon of differentiation.