Facebook Reportedly Testing New Reels-First Experience in India Putting Video Front and Centre

Facebook is said to be testing a new Reels-first experience in India. According to a report, selected Facebook users are now being taken directly to a full-screen video experience when they open Facebook. The move reportedly aims to change how users interact with the social media platform. The report mentions that the classic Feed, which users traditionally see when the app is opened, will continue to be available as a separate tab. Alternatively, they can reportedly switch back to the Feed-first experience.

Reels-First Experience on Facebook

TechCrunch reports that the new Facebook experience is currently being tested in India. It was first outlined in July by Facebook head Tom Alison, who, at the time, said Meta planned to try the redesigned experience in countries where video consumption is particularly high outside the US.

The report mentions that instead of the traditional text, image, and video Feed, the new interface aims to make video the beginning point for Facebook. Users who are part of the test will reportedly be able to opt out and return to a Feed-first experience. The existing Feed will also remain accessible as a separate tab within the app.

This is not the first time Meta has begun testing several features in India, as the company has previously used the country to test changes to its short-form video experience. In 2020, Instagram tested a dedicated Reels tab in India following the ban of TikTok in the country. It also rolled out a Reels-first experience to a limited number of Instagram users in India and South Korea last year. This experience is similar to the new Facebook test, where the app opens up to the video feed instead of the traditional Feed.

India is particularly important to Meta’s video strategy due to the scale of the market. Citing Meta’s advertising tools, the publication reported that Facebook has an audience of more than 400 million users in India. This makes the country Meta’s largest market in terms of the number of users.