Meta adds ‘Show More/Less’ buttons to FB Reels for better content personalization

Facebook users will have control over the content they want to see on Reels starting today. According to company CEO Mark Zuckerberg, this will be through the “Show More” and “Show Less” buttons, which will help users determine the content they want to see on their Reels recommendations.

Meta followed the steps of TikTok by injecting AI-recommendation content into its social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Called Reels, the recommendations could be any type of content that might interest users. However, Meta wants its users to have more control over these suggestions in today’s rollout of new controls for Facebook Reels. Show More and Show Less buttons, nonetheless, are not new to the platform. To recall, they have been on the platform for quite some time now. Yet, expanding the controls to other sections of Facebook is a nice move for Meta.

The buttons will be located in the three-dot menu at the bottom right corner of the Reels and Watch feed screen. Selecting the Show More button in a specific Reels will temporarily boost its ranking score alongside content related to it. This should also lead to more related content surfacing to the Reels suggestions of the user. Meanwhile, using the Show Less button will do the opposite.

Alongside the rollout of the controls to Reels, Meta also wants to make its users aware of why certain content surfaces as suggestions. As such, there will be labels explaining the recommendations, which can also be affected by a friend’s preferences.

According to Zuckerberg, the release of the controls to Reels will also be accompanied by the new placing Reels at the top of the Watch tab for easier discovery of content on the Facebook platform.

The move reflects Meta’s dedication to sustaining its success in the engagement increase on Instagram due to Reels. In April, the company reported a 24% boost in time engagement after the launch of Reels suggestions on the platform. Though Meta didn’t directly specify whether the same was observed in Facebook Reels, it reported increased user engagement through AI recommendations.