Facebook aims to engage young adults, increase creator income

Meta’s Facebook has intensified its focus on engaging young adults, aiming to connect with the next generation of social consumers and boost creators’ earnings.

The company’s ambition is to lead in recommendation technology globally by 2026.

Industry experts view this strategy as a method to maintain Facebook’s dominance in the social media realm, especially by capturing the attention of younger generations, competing with emerging platforms like TikTok, and gathering valuable data for future product development and targeted advertising.

Facebook vice-president Tom Alison emphasised that remaining relevant requires building for the next generation of social media users—young adults aged 18 to 29.

“To set Facebook up for success going forward over the next 20 years, we’re focused on two big things—first, building the next generation of social media for young adults, and second, new product capabilities enabled by artificial intelligence (AI).”

He noted that young adults experiencing significant life transitions—such as university, new jobs, or relationships seek support from friends and family, expand their social networks, and explore new interests.

Broader network

“They’re looking for a broader network of people. So they gravitate towards recommendations they actually want to hear.

“Facebook offers a valuable platform for young adults, particularly those undergoing new life experiences. For instance, new parents around 21 years old connect with experienced parents on Facebook for guidance.

“We help them find groups that are passionate about the same thing or explore their interests with Reels or discover inspiring creators.”

He observed strong momentum in Facebook groups, with over 1.8 billion users engaging monthly, reported Bangkok Post.

“Facebook has also enhanced its Reels video format and Feed ranking technologies to deliver more effective recommendations.

“We invented a new model architecture that can learn from large datasets very efficiently, and it drove significant improvements in our pilot with Facebook Reels.

Advanced technology

“Over the next year or so, this advanced recommendations technology will power more products, including our entire video ecosystem, and our Feed recommendations. Our goal is to become the world’s best recommendations platform by 2026.”

Alison pointed out that video continues to grow across the Facebook platform, now representing more than 60% of time spent on both Facebook and Instagram. Reels drive this growth.

“We’ve made improvements to the video experience on Facebook, including an updated fullscreen video player, and a slider to skip around in longer videos. This player is now rolling out globally.

“We’ve also seen an increase in private sharing, growing at over 80% year-over-year. Users can now quickly send videos to the people they care about, whether on Facebook or through another platform like WhatsApp.

“Additionally, the company has simplified the process for anyone to become a creator and earn money on Facebook through a new product, Professional Mode. This mode, designed for people who want to post publicly and grow a following, has reached over 100 million daily active users in just 18 months.”