Facebook launches Friends tab: a new feed that ditches algorithmic junk

Facebook is trying to go back to its roots with a new “Friends” tab that filters out the algorithmic recommendations that have taken over its main feed. The new tab is rolling out in the US and Canada, and will show your friends’ stories, reels, posts, and birthdays.

In a blog post announcing the feature, the company says, “Over the years, Facebook evolved to meet changing needs and created best-in-class experiences across Groups, Video, Marketplace and more, but the magic of friends has fallen away.”

Facebook previously housed friend requests and friend suggestions within the Friends tab, but now it’s been replaced by a dedicated friends-only feed. I’m not sure I’ll find many recent posts there, but it might be a reprieve from the sponsored content and random group posts that have drowned out all other content on my home feed. Last year, Facebook announced that it’s adding new “Local” and “Explore” tabs with even more content recommendations.

You can access the Friends tab from the navigation bar in the Facebook app. You can also pin it to your navigation bar by selecting the app’s three-bar icon and then selecting the settings icon.

From there, choose Settings > Tab bar, and choose the tabs you want to pin.