Future will tell, but I do think this is a good strategic move by FB.

FB is now seen as an app for old people and not fun at all, and probably one of the reason is because of how it looks. With the new design, things are more shiny, and the product now looks cool. How a product is perceived has a big influence on how people use it, (for example why people use snap when they can send the same videos on insta).

I wouldn't be surprised that this is a beginning of a lot of changes on FB