Facebook tests going Reels-first in India

Meta has started testing a new Facebook UX in India that sends some users directly into full-screen video when they open the app, putting Reels front and center.

First outlined in July by Facebook head Tom Alison, the test is designed to offer a more immersive, video-forward user experience. Alison said at the time that Meta planned to begin testing it later in the year in “video-heavy countries” outside the U.S., though he didn’t specify where. The company would explore bringing the user experience to the U.S. next year, he said.

Users included in the test can opt out and return to a Feed-first experience, Meta said. The classic feed will remain available as a second tab on the Facebook app.

The test comes as Meta’s moves to make video more central to Facebook. Last year, the company said all new videos posted to Facebook would be shared as Reels, regardless of their length or format, and it even renamed the app’s Video tab to “Reels”. Meta has previously said young adults spend about 60% of their time on Facebook watching videos.

India has long been a testing ground for Meta’s video efforts, particularly its push into short-form video. In 2020, Instagram began testing a dedicated Reels tab in the country, months after India banned TikTok. The company also tested a Reels-first experience for some Instagram users in India and South Korea last year that similarly sent them directly into the video UX when they opened the app.

The new test comes as video consumption rises across Meta’s apps in India. At least 97% of users surveyed in Meta-commissioned studies said they watch video on its platforms daily, and 89% of Gen Z respondents said they use Reels every day, per the figures the company released in June. Meta has described Reels as increasingly becoming India’s “personal and primary screen.”