Facebook pilots Reels-centric home feed in India

Social media platform Facebook has started testing a Reels-first feed experience in India.

The new Facebook update sends users directly to a full-screen video when they open the app, as per a TechCrunch report.

Facebook head Tom Alison first posted about the test on July 24 last year. The test aims to provide a more immersive and video-first experience to users.


"So later this year, we'll begin testing a reimagined experience that puts a subset of people who we think want more video on Facebook into full-screen video the moment they open the app. People will have the option to opt out and go back to a Feed-first experience if they choose," Alison noted in a Facebook Newsroom update.

Alison further stated that Facebook parent Meta would initially test the feature in "video-heavy countries" outside the US, though he didn't specify where. The user experience would reach the US next year, he added.

This test follows Meta's plan to make Facebook more video-centered. Earlier, the company rebranded all video content posted on Facebook, regardless of its length or format, as "Reels." Meta has previously noted that Facebook is attracting young adults on its platform, with reportedly more than 40 million US and Canadian adults aged 18 to 29 checking Facebook daily.

India and Reels

In 2020, months after India banned TikTok, Instagram began testing a dedicated Reels tab in the country. Last year, the company also tested a Reels-first experience for some users in India and South Korea.

Also read: Five years later, Reels leads India's short-form video space, IPSOS study finds

The new test builds on Meta's analysis of rising Reels consumption in India: "Reels has become the defining and unifying short-form video screen for Gen Z, with 89% engaging daily across content, culture, and creator discovery," Meta's report states.

Increasingly, Reels is becoming India's "personal and primary screen," with at least 97% of Meta's surveyed users in India now watching videos on their platforms daily, according to Meta's report.