Meta (META) is looking to revitalize its Facebook app for users other than your weird Uncle Greg with a fresh push to grab Gen Z’s attention. Facebook head Tom Alison is pitching the social network as a place for young adult users between the ages of 18 and 29 to connect, shop, and keep up with the latest trends.
"In order to stay relevant, we have to build for the next generation of social media consumers ... Gen Z," Alison said during a creator-centric event in New York City on Friday. "Our product roadmap is driven by the needs of young adults."
The 20-year-old social network that turned Meta into a tech powerhouse isn't as popular among teens as its sister app, Instagram. According to Piper Sandler’s latest Taking Stock with Teens survey, just 32% of teens use Facebook each month compared to 80% who use Instagram and 72% who access TikTok.
But according to Alison, Facebook is a match for users in their late teens and 20s who are navigating various life changes.
“As we were doing a lot of research we saw, for example, when somebody's moving to their first apartment, they're already going to [Facebook] Marketplace. And then they're … often joining a group in their new college to meet new people,” Alison said.
“And we realized, well, a lot of this kind of stuff is already happening on Facebook. We just need to do a really good job bringing it together.”
Part of that process has included enticing creators to join the platform by improving both its video efforts via its short-form video platform, Reels, and its search function.
The strategy seems to be working so far. According to Alison, Facebook has been growing in the US for several quarters and year over year with young adults. What’s more, people spend 60% of their time on Facebook watching videos.
Facebook took a rare hit after user numbers declined in Q2 2022 from 2.936 billion monthly active users to 2.934 billion, eliciting predictions that the platform was on a downward trajectory. Since then, however, the social network has grown each quarter from Q3 2022 through Q4 2023. The company didn't report monthly active Facebook users in its latest quarterly report.
Alison says his team was initially concerned that the updates to the platform could alienate the older users the social network has become associated with.
The group, however, has largely taken to the feature improvements, as have the millennials who first joined the social network when it launched in 2014.
“I do think Facebook has had a unique staying power because we've always been willing to change,” Alison said.
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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