Facebook updates News Feed to make friends a priority
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Facebook on Thursday announced a major update that will put friends and family above pages or celebrities in a user’s news feed — and likely result in people spending less time on the leading social network.
The change to the way Facebook ranks posts will put more weight on social interactions and relationships, according to News Feed product manager John Hegeman.
“This is a big change,” Hegeman told.
“People will actually spend less time on Facebook, but we feel good about that because it will make the time they do spend more valuable, and be good for our business in the end.”
For example, a family video clip posted by a spouse will be deemed more worthy of attention than a snippet from a star or favorite restaurant.
“We think people interaction is more important than passively consuming content,” Hegeman said.
“This will be one of the more important updates that we have made.”
Facebook co-founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg has said that bringing people together and strengthening communities in the real world are priorities.
The news feed ranking update, which is set to roll out globally in the coming weeks, is expected to support that goal.
“As we roll this out, you’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media,” Zuckerberg said in a post at his Facebook page.
“People will actually spend less time on Facebook, but we feel good about that because it will make the time they do spend more valuable, and be good for our business in the end.”
“And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard — it should encourage meaningful interactions between people.”
Google, Twitter and Facebook have come under fire for allowing the spread of bogus news — some of which was directed by Russia — ahead of the 2016 U.S. election and in other countries.
Facebook has introduced a series of changes intended to address the problem.
“We are doing a ton of work to reduce the frequency of bad content on Facebook,” Hegeman said.
“This update is more about amplifying the things people value.”
He cited academic research indicating that interacting with loved ones is crucial to a person’s wellbeing, while reading news articles or watching shared videos may not be.
“There is really no silver bullet here to determine what is most meaningful, but we are trying to mine the signals to get the best representation that we can,” Hegeman said.
Known for setting annual personal goals ranging from killing his own food to learning Mandarin, Zuckerberg’s stated mission for this year is to ‘fix’ the social network, including by targeting abuse and hate, and making sure visiting Facebook is time well spent.
“I’m changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions,” Zuckerberg said Thursday.
Questions & Answers
Q.What is the primary aim of this Facebook News Feed update?
What is the primary aim of this Facebook News Feed update?
The main goal is to prioritise posts from friends and family over those from pages or celebrities. This should make time spent on the platform more valuable by focusing on social interactions and relationships.
Q.How will this change affect content from businesses, brands, and media?
How will this change affect content from businesses, brands, and media?
Users will see less public content from businesses, brands, and media. The public content that remains visible will be held to a standard of encouraging meaningful interactions between people.
Q.Does Facebook expect users to spend more or less time on the platform after this update?
Does Facebook expect users to spend more or less time on the platform after this update?
Facebook expects people to spend less time on the platform after this update. However, they believe this reduction will make the time users do spend more valuable.
Q.What is Mark Zuckerberg's overall mission for Facebook this year?
What is Mark Zuckerberg's overall mission for Facebook this year?
Zuckerberg's mission is to 'fix' the social network, including addressing abuse and hate. He is redirecting product teams to focus on meaningful social interactions instead of just relevant content.
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