Facebook's big changes could mean the end of the old social network era: Here's how we're all in a TikTok world now

The end of the social network is likely to be marked by the changes Facebook is making to compete with TikTok.

Facebook won't be a place to connect with friends anymore. It will have an addicting scroll, similar to TikTok, that will feed you videos, pictures and other posts that it thinks you'll enjoy. You're more likely to see random pet videos or get recipes from cooking experts if you see a post from an embarrassing aunt.

The main tab will be "Home" when you open Facebook. The new main screen was called a discovery engine.

Any public video that is less than 15 minutes in length will now automatically be a reel and may be eligible to be recommended and seen by more people.

If you don't want to scroll through videos from strangers on TikTok, Facebook has something for you. The default home screen won't allow you to see what your friends are up to more directly.

Meta's changes engagement based on the way it's being used. They show a time when tech and entertainment companies are competing to get the attention of consumers.

It is another step towards the end of the social networking era.

Facebook used to connect users with friends and family in online social settings. When I was younger, status updates meant something.

If you keep score, here's how Facebook has evolved.

• When Facebook first launched the main "News Feed" in 2006, it was a straight forward page of friends' statuses.
• Over time, Facebook's feed has morphed, and this isn't the first algorithm-driven move it's made: In 2009, an algorithm started to dictate what users saw first in the feed, and it prioritized more interesting life updates of users' connections.
• In 2018, it introduced an update that would "prioritize posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people." (Critics have said this boxed people into political echo chambers that inflamed extremism.)

This latest update is the biggest move away from Facebook as a social network and closer to TikTok, which grew at an impressive pace during the epidemic, and likely too fast for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg not to notice.

TikTok had 500 million global active users by the end of 2019. As of March this year, Facebook had over 2 billion monthly active users, but it has been around for more than 20 years.

Meta's strategy is aggressive new moves to gain relevance in a world where TikTok is increasingly setting the pace.

The end of the social network is not the end of social media. It means the end of social-media platforms as places to make meaningful connections.

Like TikTok, Facebook wants to entertain you and keep you on the app. People you know won't factor that goal into their thinking.